Where Ukrainian police reform went wrong: Former officers speak

Police officers Zoya Melnyk and Anton Snezhkov were fired after criticizing Ukraine’s police reform on Facebook. The official reason: disciplinary violations. However, both officers believe it was a punishment for speaking out. Both of them challenged their firing in court.

Melnyk and Snezhkov were a part of the so-called “new police” — a reformed, Western-style patrol force that replaced the Soviet-style militia in 2015. The reform of the patrol police was supposed to be the public face of Ukraine’s broader reform of law enforcement. However, experts and former police officers now say that the new police looks much like its predecessor force.

This reporting was supported by the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists.