Biden admin: Ukraine too chaotic to properly track taxpayer-funded aid
The war between Russia and Ukraine is shaping up to be the most expensive of the century, topping the United States’ Afghanistan war expense in proportion. The US spent an estimated $2.313 trillion over 20 years to fight the war, which averages about $115.6 billion a year.
But according to estimates from The Kiel Institute, Ukraine received at least €93.8 billion — or $100 billion — from 40 countries between January 24, 2022, and October 3, 2022. A recent €2 billion pledge from the EU and a request from Biden to award the country $37 billion brings the total to over $140 billion in less than a year.
If Biden’s request is approved, the United States will have financed the lion’s share of Ukraine’s war chest at $88 billion of taxpayer funds.
It is unclear, however, if the handouts are making it to Ukraine’s war chest.
The Biden administration has not been tracking its contributions to the European country, citing “chaos on the ground” as the reason why there are no US inspectors in Ukraine overseeing the use of American taxpayer funds, reports Politico. It is also hard to find contractors willing to brave the “high-risk” situation on the ground or obtain meetings with Ukrainian officials receiving the aid, despite numerous visits by Hollywood celebrities and other world leaders who safely manage to secure personal meetings with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Above all, kinetic activity and active combat between Ukrainian and Russian forces create an environment in which standard verification measures are sometimes impracticable or impossible,” states a “sensitive but unclassified” nine-page cable from the US Embassy in Kyiv.
Instead, the United States is relying on Ukraine soldiers to track the aid, as well as a mobile app still in development as part of a “public-private partnership project” which will allow photos and videos to be uploaded to a blockchain platform.
Politico rails against “far-right” Republicans such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) who proposed legislation to audit the taxpayer money gifted to Ukraine. Democrats successfully blocked the bill. Instead, the news outlet assures readers, “The State Department cable shows the Biden administration trying to get ahead of the problem.”
“The United States takes very seriously our responsibility to ensure appropriate oversight of all U.S. assistance,” said the State Department in a statement.
Despite Ukraine’s expansive defense coffers, it remains in danger of an energy crisis if it does not immediately receive 50 million LED lightbulbs, said President Zelenskyy this week, who described the bulbs to be "as necessary in Ukraine as armored vehicles and bulletproof vests.” The EU pledged a donation of 30 million lightbulbs and 800 generators to Ukraine even as it faces a dire energy crisis within its own borders.
