Corruption will be the “primary impediment” to Ukraine’s post-conflict recovery, the Pentagon’s inspector general has warned in a new report, which identified the country’s defense ministry as “a key player in many corruption scandals.”
In a quarterly report to Congress published this week, Inspector General Robert Storch noted that “corruption continues to complicate Ukraine’s efforts to achieve its EU and NATO aspirations.”
“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 stated, citing information from the US State Department and media outlets.
Earlier this year, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced the discovery of a major embezzlement ring at the country’s defense ministry. According to the SBU, five suspects attempted to steal 1.5 billion hryvnia (around $39.6 million) in state funds intended for the purchase of mortar shells.
Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov was dismissed from his post over graft allegations several months earlier. His successor, Rustem Umerov, announced in January that an audit had revealed $262 million in theft-related costs in weapons procurement. However, Umerov is considered “even more corrupt” than his predecessor, a US intelligence official told journalist Seymour Hersh last year.
Back in May, Ukrainian media exposed a scheme in which military and civilian authorities in Kharkov Region paid millions of dollars to fake companies for the supply of non-existent building materials to construct defensive fortifications, leaving the region undefended when Russian troops rolled in.
Despite a litany of similar reports surfacing for the last three years, the report found “no credible evidence” that US-provided weapons, money, or humanitarian assistance was being illegally diverted. Reports to the contrary, it stated, are Russian “disinformation.”
According to the report, the US has appropriated $182 billion to support Ukraine’s government and military, $86.7 billion of which has been spent.
Some of this amount was lost before it reached Ukraine, a Pentagon audit revealed last month. The audit found that $1.1 billion worth of military aid money was improperly documented and unaccounted for, with much of it spent by US forces in Europe on projects “unrelated to Ukraine,” a Stars and Stripes report explained.
US President Joe Biden’s administration plans to commit another $6 billion in aid to Ukraine before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, the Pentagon announced last week. “President Biden has committed to making sure that every dollar we have at our disposal will be pushed out the door between now and January 20,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on Wednesday.
Trump has vowed to bring the conflict to a swift end by forcing Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky into talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has not revealed any further details about his plans, but it is widely believed that he will use the threat of cutting off US military aid as leverage over Zelensky.