Kiev officials stole up to half of US aid: Ex-Polish deputy minister
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Piotr Kulpa, an outspoken admirer of US President-elect Donald Trump, believes Ukrainian authorities misappropriated up to half of the financial aid given to Kiev.
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Ukrainian soldiers attend training at a polygon in Ukraine on November 19, 2024 (AP)
According to a former Polish deputy minister, Ukraine did not get as much foreign aid as the Biden administration reported, and what it did receive was substantially embezzled. Piotr Kulpa claims Ukrainian authorities misappropriated up to half of the financial aid given to Kiev.
The political pundit formerly held many positions in the Polish government, including deputy labor minister in the mid-2000s, and is now a regular contributor to Ukrainian web shows.
Kulpa, an outspoken admirer of US President-elect Donald Trump, told Ukrainian journalist Lana Shevchuk on Thursday that “Everyone understands that war-related corruption is linked not only with Ukraine but also the supplier nation."
“Who would ever believe that the US burned through $2 trillion in Afghanistan? It’s delusional!" Kulpa added.
He accused US aid programs of writing off large sums of money that finance "shady systems under Democratic Party control."
According to Kulpa, the future Trump administration might analyze government finances and discover that "Ukraine got very little" in comparison to publicly declared amounts and that a large chunk of the funds was "stolen...from 30% to 50%, regardless of the nature of the aid," he divulged.
Criticizing the massive salaries and bonuses Ukrainian officials pocket, Kulpa further expressed that if the country could retrieve all the stolen money, it would have sufficient funds for a year.
Kulpa called the system "criminal from start to finish," adding it was a "spit in the face of every Ukrainian."
His comments come as the White House prepares to unveil a support package for Ukraine worth up to $275 million.
Pentagon issues warning to Ukraine about corruption
In a quarterly report to Congress released last week, the Pentagon's Inspector General Robert Storch stated that "corruption continues to complicate Ukraine's efforts to achieve its EU and NATO aspirations," citing the country's military as a "key player" in such scandals.
"Judges, politicians, and officials have been charged with corruption, and the Ministry of Defense has been a key player in many corruption scandals," the report noted, citing data from the US State Department and media sources.
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) reported uncovering a corruption network inside the defense ministry early this year when five individuals attempted to steal 1.5 billion hryvnia (about $39.6 million) in state cash earmarked for mortar shell purchases.
Aleksey Reznikov, the Defense Minister, was fired some months ago due to graft charges. His replacement, Rustem Umerov, stated in January that an audit found $262 million in theft-related charges in weapons purchases. A US intelligence officer informed writer Seymour Hersh last year that Umerov is "even more corrupt" than his predecessor.
In May, Ukrainian media revealed a scheme in which officials in Kharkov diverted millions of euros to fake businesses for non-existent building materials, leaving the area undefended when Russian forces arrived.
The report echoes the claims of a Ukrainian general who last month warned that the Ukrainian armed forces are unable to respond quickly to changing battlefield conditions due to bureaucracy and corruption in their logistics.
General Dmitry Marchenko revealed in an interview that adaptability is a crucial prerequisite for a modern military, and Kiev's force lacks it - but not because of the troops. "Unfortunately, our bureaucracy, our corruption, do not allow us to adapt and quickly produce what we need," he remarked, referring to Ukraine's military sector.
