NOTE: It should come as no surprise that the complexity of the information war has not diminished since the conclusion of the US election — if anything, it has grown more so. This story is complicated in several ways. First, the ability to verify sources is harder than usual. Please do not assume that everything being reported here is fact. I am attempting to report the story simply on what has been presented; please read it with a critical mind, understanding that reality. Secondly, you can assume at the outset that multiple parties are attempting to spin the information in varied ways. Nevertheless, where there is smoke, there is usually some degree of fire.
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Piotr Kulpa, an Ex Polish Deputy Minister, has reportedly stated that nearly half of the money sent to Ukraine by the United States has been laundered and stolen.
What is more, Kulpa is claiming that a large amount of the corruption took the form of kickbacks, with sizeable amounts being siphoned back to American democratic officials.
The former Polish official reportedly made the claims on Thursday while speaking to Luna Shevchuk, a Ukrainian journalist with a history of pro-Russian reporting, according to multiple foreign news outlets including One India News who put out this brief report on YouTube.
According to One India’s YouTube video report, Kulpa claims that Ukrainian officials laundered up to half of the money sent to Ukraine under the guise of defending Ukrainian freedom, Europe, and American interests from Russian aggression.
Allegedly a large portion of those laundered funds was then sent back into the hands of U.S. democrats during the election season using “corrupt networks”, according to the allegations reportedly made by Kulpa.
The allegations have begun making the rounds on social media, with the popular account “I Meme Therefore I Am” posting the following:
According to former Polish Deputy Minister Piotr Kulpa, Ukrainian authorities have allegedly siphoned off up to half of the U.S. aid money sent to their country and redirected a portion of it back to the Democratic Party through laundering schemes.
Is anyone surprised? pic.twitter.com/NwSup0s3eJ
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) November 24, 2024
With his newest interest as part of President Trump’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), Elon Musk quickly requested X Community Notes go to work verifying the story after the same account shared a version of the report as carried by an English language Arabic news outlet.
Kiev officials stole up to half of US aid: Ex-Polish deputy ministerhttps://t.co/BWxfrYIlFM
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) November 24, 2024
Ukraine did not receive nearly as much aid as the Biden administration reported, with a “substantial” amount embezzled, according to the report by the news outlet, english.almayadeen.net, which Elon Musk directed Community Notes to look into.
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.”
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.
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The idea that corruption and money laundering has been taking place in Ukraine is nothing new.
For example, in March of 2022, the wife of a former Ukrainian official was searched on her way across the border into Hungary and found to be carrying millions in Euros and American dollars in suitcases.
The wife of former Ukrainian MP Ihor Kotvitskyi declared 28 million dollars and 1.3 million euros when entering Hungary. Kotvitskyi has faced allegations of corruption in the past. pic.twitter.com/K4Ry2qOyk6
— Euan MacDonald (@Euan_MacDonald) March 20, 2022
Could the money laundering of U.S. tax dollars (FUTURE U.S. tax dollars!) being siphoned off from aid money to Ukraine be one of the reasons a vast majority of American congress members were waving Ukrainian flags in the Capitol building during another round of Ukrainian aid votes?
Ukrainian flags fly in the chamber of the UNITED STATES House of Representatives as they vote to send more of your hard-earned money to a corrupt foreign regime. And just like that they shout “UKRAINE! UKRAINE!”while happily working to secure Ukraine’s borders, not ours. pic.twitter.com/ZXZo1kliNl
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) April 20, 2024
Were U.S. congressional democrats aware that they were voting on their own kickbacks?
— Rep. Eli Crane (@RepEliCrane) April 20, 2024
Put those damn flags away. It is a disgrace to display any other flag than the American flag in the House Chamber! pic.twitter.com/WDjU7lQYi2
— Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@RepLuna) April 20, 2024
Kulpa said that the corruption and money laundering of U.S. and European tax dollars was a spit in the face of ordinary Ukrainians, according to reporting by the pro-Russian outlet RT, who also covered the story of Kulpa’s allegations.
If Kiev were to recover all the embezzled money for the Ukrainian budget, the country would have enough for a year, Kulpa said. He denounced senior Ukrainian officials, whose regular salaries and bonuses he believes are outrageously high.
“It’s a spit in the face of every Ukrainian,” the former minister asserted. “To every European and American taxpayer. This system is criminal from start to finish.”
Trump and his allies have been highly critical of the amount of assistance that the Biden administration has sent to Kiev. The president-elect has argued that EU nations should assume the burden of propping up Ukraine, while the American government should focus on its own priorities.
US concerns about graft in Kiev have been reflected in some government documents, such as a report that Pentagon Inspector General Robert Storch’s office released last week. It said corruption “continues to complicate Ukraine’s efforts to achieve its EU and NATO aspirations.”
The reality of Ukrainian aid money corruption is almost a guarantee. How much of the billions in U.S. tax dollars has been laundered, and allegedly used as kickback to U.S. officials in order to keep the U.S. money spigot open, remains to be seen.
This is a developing story, and as noted is based on current information with the acknowledgment that the allegations reportedly made by the former Polish Deputy Minister have not been independently verified.
We will bring you more information, and provide clarity to this early information, as it becomes available.
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