The problem has been that people in the west have been continually told how corrupt Russia is, without noticing that the Ukraine has the same problem. In fact,

The problem has been that people in the west have been continually told how corrupt Russia is, without noticing that the Ukraine has the same problem. In fact, the former USSR is riddled with it. Strong men associated with crime and intelligence services emerged through the late eighties and early nineties, alongside smiling good looking politicians who act as frontmen for them. For what it's worth, within Europe, Albania, Moldava and Slovakia have appalling corruption we rarely hear about. Bulgaria and Romania are pretty bad too. All former Iron Curtain states. Further west, Ireland and Italy have clientilism in spades (Northern Ireland, not just the Republic).