₦airaland Forum

The shame of American military assistance in Iraq and Afghanistan is that while our troops and their local allies were fighting bravely, the leaders of our so-called allies were getting rich. We have seen something even worse in Ukraine: While Ukrainian military personnel and civilians fight valiantly in a fierce contest for independence, Ukrainian leaders have gotten fabulously wealthy.

The American shame is that the U.S. heedlessly expanded NATO to the borders of Russia, and then, after Russia pushed back, enabled and funded the cynical maladministration by the Zelensky government, which will go down in history as one of the greatest examples of waste and theft of Western aid.

What’s more, Ukraine’s casualties have permanently altered the country’s demography and will limit its prospects for economic recovery, leaving the country “wrecked” and the scene of a future “frozen conflict,” per Professor John Mearsheimer.

The sheer scale of waste and fraud will only be revealed by independent investigations after the war’s end. The Zelensky government uses the war to quash media stories that dare to question Ukrainian spending of our taxpayer dollars. Still, many brave Ukrainian journalists and officers have exposed scandals of overpricing, shoddy equipment and embezzlement at the highest levels of Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration. They have risked being labeled as Russian saboteurs or sent to certain death at the front lines for reporting the truth.

The real crime of the Zelensky administration, however, began in late 2023. In a November 2023 article for The Economist, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, then commander in chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, said that without a substantial technological edge, Ukraine would face a stalemate. He said traditional attritional strategies were insufficient to overcome the numerical advantage of the Russian forces.

Zaluzhnyi emphasized several key points:

Stalemate on the front lines: The war had reached a deadlock, with both Ukrainian and Russian forces locked into positions reminiscent of World War I trench warfare. He noted, “There will most likely be no deep and beautiful breakthrough.”

Need for technological advancement: To break this stalemate, Ukraine required significant technological innovations. He highlighted the importance of drones, electronic warfare, anti-artillery capabilities, demining equipment and robotics. Zaluzhnyi stated, “In order for us to break this deadlock, we need something new—like gunpowder once was, which the Chinese invented and which we are still using to kill each other.”

Limitations of attritional strategies: Zaluzhnyi acknowledged Ukraine had miscalculated by assuming that inflicting heavy casualties on Russian forces would stop them. He noted that Russia had suffered at least 150,000 dead yet continued its aggression, indicating that such losses did not deter Russian leadership.

In other words, it was time to focus on diplomacy. But Zelensky had no interest in diplomacy, because ending the war would mean ending the state of emergency, new elections and a change in the structure of international assistance. In his own political interest, he ousted Zaluzhnyi and continued a war he was warned would waste lives and money without result. In the end, Zaluzhnyi was too optimistic; lives and money were indeed wasted, but they did not achieve a stalemate. Russia regrouped and gained territory.

Zaluzhnyi was not the only one warning about dynamics on the battlefield.

In April 2024, the leadership of Ukraine’s military intelligence participated in a series of roundtable discussions at Washington think tanks and policymakers. A former American diplomat familiar with the visit told this author, “They expressed their reservations about continuing full scale conventional warfare. They were concerned that Ukraine had lost momentum and would be overwhelmed. They advocated instead for increased asymmetric warfare inside Russia to gain an upper hand in negotiations to end the war.” The result of this engagement was that the chief of military of intelligence, Kyril Budanov, was muzzled by Team Zelensky in a series of media attacks in pro-government websites. His key deputies were fired without his consent, weakening his agency.

The waste and corruption only spread from there. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala championed a European munitions initiative that wasted billions more dollars. Zelensky and his ambassador to the Czech Republic infamously praised Fiala even as the Czech munitions initiative procured overpriced and faulty shells that resulted in the maiming of Ukrainian soldiers and destruction of battlefield equipment.

More scandals arose, involving Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustam Umerov and Ministry of Defense procurement official Oleksii Petrov buying faulty equipment for astronomical prices. These have been extensively reported by Ukrainian media.

While Zelensky prevented his military commanders from openly speaking the truth

about Ukraine’s chances to break through the stalemate, his loyalists at the Defense Ministry misspent record amounts of money in record time. They also tapped into assistance in kind, another lucrative source of enrichment.

And in a case where corruption has merged with treason, weapons sent to Ukraine for its defense were diverted to Nigeria’s Lake Chad region, “bolstering the strength of terrorist groups.” There are also unconfirmed reports that weapons donated to Ukraine have wound up in the hands of criminal gangs in Sweden.

Zelensky and his administration should answer to the Ukrainian people for lives and territory lost because he silenced his military commanders. And they should also be held accountable by the U.S. Congress for the lost billions of American taxpayer dollars. (Total aid from the U.S. and its Western allies totals $260 billion.) It’s past time Washington stopped letting corrupt foreign officials steal American aid.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/opinion-hold-ukraine-accountable-corruption-150000179.html

Una no dey taya to dey lie? So its no longer Libya milltia? Soon it will be Russia weapon given to Boko Haram then it wll be North Korea weapon given to fulani herdsmen you losers can't you just shut up for once and do other things?

Na wah oo.

No pictures or samples of the weapons? The only thing I can confirm is Ukraine donating food to Nigeria and Africa.

It is difficult to know when liars are being honest. It is difficult to know when honest people become liars.

This is an opinion article. So it is a sponsored propaganda. But besides, most of those weapons come from the outcast leader, Gaddafi's armouries that was scattered by the US. They found their way to the country through Sahara areas.

Keep the propaganda up! 😂

This op is jobless. So you have to devout your time to write this lenghty but empty epistle just for propagandas sake, right? You are jobless. Send your CV to begin farm work so you won't have precious time to waste for this kind propagandas anymore

So you no see the link to the article on yahoo news.

sreamsense:
This op is jobless. So you have to devout your time to write this lenghty but empty epistle just for propagandas sake, right? You are jobless. Send your CV to begin farm work so you won't have precious time to waste for this kind propagandas anymore

Jacqueline.questle, I knew you'd be here like flies on horseshit.
Whatever does not fit ur warped reasoning will be called propaganda.

Botragelad:
Keep the propaganda up! 😂

franvincoop:
So you no see the link to the article on yahoo news.

Keep quite! Did yahon mention boko haram?

Look at all of them up there.. Typical Nigerians! You see how they're fighting tooth and nail to discredit this report? You would think they're all paid agents, but not really. Most of them are just like that. They attack any new ideas on impulse. Nigerians like marinating in hot ignorance. It's stunningly frustrating..

Someone gave you a glimpse into the international conspiracy that has driven the boko haram insurgency this far, and instead of trying to go through the facts presented, all you guys are desperately doing is to shiit on the report without reason.

Nigerians are alarmingly ignorant of how international politics works. Some genuinely think Nigeria as country is so inconsequential to attract western attention. They don't even grasp the importance of a country of over 200 million people with so much enormous mineral resources, and how that can unbalance weatwen domination of Africas geopolitical realities.

Neither do they care about how that can attract the envy and a call for "action" from the west.

It is unbelievable

Propaganda is a great weapon for fighting war.

It's like a virus sent to attack the software of a computer. What will the hardware do if the software is compromised

franvincoop:
Jacqueline.questle, I knew you'd be here like flies on horseshit.
Whatever does not fit ur warped reasoning will be called propaganda.

Shut up and keep the propaganda up. That's the only thing you are good at! 😂

You no sabi spell sef, little wonder u no fit read not to talk of think.

And in a case where corruption has merged with treason, weapons sent to Ukraine for its defense were diverted to Nigeria’s Lake Chad region, “bolstering the strength of terrorist groups.”

So na Labour Party and Obidients dey for Nigeria’s Lake Chad region?

MasterJayJay:
Keep quite! Did yahon mention boko haram?

Thank you MadamExcellency.
In your own little way, you are confirming the story.
The same containers which deliver aid are used to deliver weapons to both sides.
It is standard practice all over the world, use examples of Ukraine, Myanmar, Sudan, Gaza, CAR, Cameroon dem dey deny/restrict aid convoys UN included.
Happy New Year.

MadamExcellency:
No pictures or samples of the weapons? The only thing I can confirm is Ukraine donating food to Nigeria and Africa.

No mind them.
Let dem discredit the report all they want, it does not change the facts of the report.
Them want security in Nigeria but dem no fit ask themselves wetin concern weapons for Ukraine with Nigeria’s Lake Chad region.
But make 1 SA person just insult 9ja for X, all their peckers go get volcanic erection.

MadPolitician:
Look at all of them up there.. Typical Nigerians! You see how they're fighting tooth and nail to discredit this report? You would think they're all paid agents, but not really. Most of them are just like that. They attack any new ideas on impulse. Nigerians like marinating in hot ignorance. It's stunningly frustrating..

Someone gave you a glimpse into the international conspiracy that has driven the boko haram insurgency this far, and instead of trying to go through the facts presented, all you guys are desperately doing is to shiit on the report without reason.

Nigerians are alarmingly ignorant of how international politics works. Some genuinely think Nigeria as country is so inconsequential to attract western attention. They don't even grasp the importance of a country of over 200 million people with so much enormous mineral resources, and how that can unbalance weatwen domination of Africas geopolitical realities.

Neither do they care about how that can attract the envy and a call for "action" from the west.

It is unbelievable

From france to book haram to Niger president warning Nigerians

Something is brewing in the north

If you pity your head, leave