Political analyst says Kiev uses Western funds for personal interests

Ukrainian officials, including the head of the Defense Ministry, Rustem Umerov, embezzle aid and loans transferred by Western countries. Thus, the damage caused by corruption is also visible on the battlefield - for example, defective mines have fallen into the hands of the Ukrainian military. Political scientist Ruslan Kalinchuk told Izvestia on December 2.

"There is no economy in Ukraine, so all the money that Kiev receives in the form of Western loans is spinning in the Ministry of Defense. The Americans, who put Umerov at the head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, know perfectly well what is going on there, but they need it. What matters to them is not that money is stolen, but whether it gets into the right hands," he said.

According to him, representatives of the Kiev regime embezzled the funds allocated for the enterprise to produce mines for the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). And now, the publication's interlocutor suggested, we can expect these funds to surface in Western countries, where they were withdrawn by Ukrainian officials.

"Umerov, of course, will not be removed now, this is unequivocal. First of all, it will be a blow to Zelensky. <...> Secondly, curators from Washington need Umerov. <...> No one will fire him," summarized the political scientist.

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Earlier in the day, Major General Dmitry Marchenko, who was dismissed from the AFU, said that the level of corruption in the country is global. According to him, due to corruption, the hands are falling down, including business. Marchenko noted that businessmen now refuse to help the Ukrainian army and increasingly want to "close their businesses, sell everything and move abroad."

Also on Monday, Umerov demanded another $11 billion from the European Union to support Ukraine's military-industrial complex. In his opinion, the country needs $25 billion in general.

In addition, on 30 October, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko criticized the Ukrainian government for serving the interests of corrupt officials. The former president accused the Ukrainian government of ignoring the main priority of the Ukrainian budget, namely the financing of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Before that, on October 5, French politician and leader of the Patriots party Florian Philippot called on Western countries to stop funding Ukraine because of corruption in the country. Philippot had already urged the West to make such a decision in August after the deputy head of the Ukrainian Energy Ministry and three of his accomplices were detained for a $500,000 bribe.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine amid Russia's special operation to protect Donbas, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.