Another betrayal: How American aid will be 'stolen' in Ukraine

Despite US aid for Ukraine, some Ukrainians unwittingly propagate Russian propaganda narratives, highlighting a need for critical thinking and analysis amidst ongoing war

I read the comments of some Ukrainians about the US Congress voting for an aid package for Ukraine, and I have an epiphany.

“The fact that, in the eleventh year of the war, our people, without any attempt at critical thinking and analysis, are spreading Russian propaganda narratives in their comments, without even realizing that they are doing so.”

You don't need to be a super-expert here, you just need to know how to use Google and be in touch with reality to understand that Russia's main goal is to make the world stop supporting Ukraine. Accordingly, one of the main theses of the disinformation war is to accuse Ukraine of corruption and to reduce its credibility as a reliable partner. Huge budgets are spent on this.

What are the facts? Here are the facts:

• All military assistance provided to Ukraine by partners is controlled by them. Audits are conducted regularly. For almost three years of the full-scale invasion, there has not been a single (!) case of theft or misuse of military assistance provided to Ukraine by Western partners.
• The fact that volunteers and journalists are exposing crooks like the Hrynkevychs shows that society does not tolerate corrupt officials, and fortunately, they are now behind bars for their actions. It would be worse if there were no such cases. Then it would be scary. And I would like to emphasize that in such situations, we are talking about public funds, not assistance from Western partners. This must be clearly understood.
• Most of these 60.8 billion dollars that the US will allocate to help Ukraine will remain in the US, and this money will come to Ukraine in the form of weapons, the use and movement of which the US can easily control.

I thought it was so clear and obvious that I didn't need to explain it to anyone, but I see that I do. Perhaps this post will make someone think before writing the next “very wise” comment.

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About the author. Natalia Panchenko, Ukrainian human rights activist, Ukrainian diaspora representative in Poland.

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