Ukraine has long tried to get closer to European institutions and join the EU, but widespread corruption in the country has made lenders look red.

The International Monetary Fund has demanded progress on the issue, but attempts to enact anti-corruption laws have been thwarted.

In recent years, however, the anti-corruption work in the country has moved forward, says Daria Kaleniuk, head of the country's Center against Corruption, who has worked to investigate corruption within Ukrainian authorities.

- During Zelenskyj's first half of the year, we managed to achieve a lot, then an attempt was made to oppose our work, but we stopped it by criticizing the government.

Then it started again, back and forth, just like in a normal democracy.

Now they risk progress if nothing happens.

- Corruption was a major obstacle to international investment.

We worked to get rid of it and progress was made, but Russia did not allow us to finish that work.

"Putin has power through corruption"

Daria Kaleniuk says Putin is afraid of Ukraine's work against corruption.

- He has power thanks to corruption and he does not want Russians to have a neighbor where it no longer rules.

The only time you are punished for corruption in Russia is if Putin decides he wants to get rid of someone.

"They decided to bomb us"

The war in Ukraine has been going on for almost a month.

Daria Kaleniuk herself is in Poland, where she confronted the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson a few days into the war for what she thought was too lenient a treatment of Russian oligarchs.

She says that her own anti-corruption work is now on ice and all focus is on winning the war.

- Ukrainians are not willing to defend Ukraine because we are making progress in the anti-corruption work, but because it is our country and our home.

Yes, we have criticized the government for its lack of reforms, but they were on the way.

Without Russia, we could have made great progress, but they simply decided to bomb us.

Click on the clip to hear more from Daria Kaleniuk and see more about Ukraine's fighting spirit in the Foreign Office: To the last man on SVT2 at 10 pm and in SVT Play from 7.30 pm tonight.