Millions In US Aid Stolen By Ukrainian Gangs
As the United States continues sending cash, weaponry, and other military equipment to Ukraine amid that nation’s ongoing war with Russia, many individuals have lamented the lack of accountability regarding how these shipments are used.
John Sopko, who has served as the special inspector general overseeing aid to Afghanistan for more than a decade, advised earlier this year that the Ukrainian situation provides an ideal environment for fraud to flourish.
“When you spend so much money so quickly, with so little oversight, you’re going to have fraud, waste, and abuse,” he said. “Massive amounts.”
A new report by the U.S. Department of Defense inspector general bolsters Sopko’s assertion, determining that equipment worth millions of dollars have landed in the possession of organized crime entities instead of the Ukrainian military.
The 19-page assessment was obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request and outlines how gangs were able to obtain U.S. weapons and other material intended to benefit forces fighting back against invading Russian troops.
“In late June 2022, the [Secretary Service of Ukraine] disrupted a group of Ukrainian criminals posing as members of a humanitarian aid organization who distributed bulletproof vests,” the IG report stated. “The group illicitly imported the vests and sold them rather than distributed them to Ukrainian forces.”
One member of the gang was reportedly “found with a cache of vests worth $17,000.
Another section of the report, which was completed in October, described “a group of volunteer battalion members who took more than 60 rifles and almost 1,000 rounds of ammunition and stored them illegally in a warehouse, presumably for sale on the black market.”
House Republicans included increased oversight of Ukrainian aid as part of its National Defense Authorization Act. The move came after the Pentagon acknowledged last month that it had made a $6.2 billion accounting error in calculating the value of equipment sent to Ukraine.
Of course, the White House came out against such an effort to bolster accountability over how taxpayer money is being appropriated overseas.
During the recent congressional debate over military spending, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was adamant in her opposition to additional Ukrainian aid.
“Hell no,” she said of the likelihood that the GOP-led chamber would approve it, adding: “I will not vote for it and I will whip people against it.”
