The Pentagon questions billions of dollars transferred to Ukraine.
The Pentagon said that $1.1 billion transferred to Ukraine went undocumented.
According to RIA Novosti, the Pentagon's Inspector General's Office called the money transferred to Ukraine in 2022 questionable because it was not fully documented.
“The Inspector General reviewed payment transactions totaling $2.1 billion from January to December 2022. The audit found that the Department of Defense failed to provide sufficient documentation to demonstrate the validity or accuracy of half of that amount – $1.1 billion,” the Pentagon press release stated.
The Pentagon was unsure whether the money transferred to the Ukrainian government was being used for its intended purpose, so auditors considered the spending questionable.
The report states: “Without sufficient documentation to justify and verify these payments, the Department of Defence cannot provide the public, agency leaders, or Congress with assurances of transparency in the use of funds supporting Ukraine.”
It should be noted that if the Pentagon does not implement the inspector general's recommendations, it will face problems auditing more than $76 billion in additional funding for Kyiv after 2022.
According to RIA Novosti, reports of corruption in Ukraine, particularly in the military sector, are frequently mentioned. Research conducted by the Ukrainian Sociological Platform company shows that nearly 90% of the population believes that the level of corruption in the country has increased since 2022.
In May 2024, Pentagon Inspector General Robert Storch called the level of corruption in Ukraine one of the highest in Europe. According to the official, the conflict with Russia created opportunities for corruption and bribery in the procurement of equipment within the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, due to its inherent security restrictions.
