Diana Panchenko is a former Ukrainian journalist and TV presenter. She worked for The First Independent TV Channel, which was shut down an hour after it launched. She later moved to Russia to work as an independent journalist. Panchenko is an avid critic of the Ukrainian government’s involvement in the war against Russia.
Manuscript by Diana Panchenko and transcription and grammatical correction by NewsVoice
Thanks to everyone who supports ordinary Ukrainians. Today, we Ukrainian journalists would like to ask you for your attention, not your money. Do you know why MSC, a leading container shipping company, doesn’t do business in Ukraine?
Why Ukrainians don’t want to fight? Because your aid doesn’t reach ordinary people. The Ukrainian politicians use war to seal it. Just look at cars with Ukrainian number plates and Monaco. And this is Ukraine.
People fight over a pair of sneakers in a thrift shop. What are you doing? Alongside my colleagues from Radio Svoboda, Nashi Groshis, Hemay, and other media, I’m doing my best to help the ordinary people of Ukraine.
Corruption in Ukraine?
You will be shocked!!!
Watch till the end!!!
Please share. pic.twitter.com/bTIsQwJY6Z
— Diana Panchenko 🇺🇦 (@Panchenko_X) July 1, 2024
But fighting this corrupt system is an uphill battle. This week, the U.S. announced another $150 million aid package to Ukraine. Does it sound like a lot to you? For Ukraine, I’d like to ask for your attention.
The Ukrainian government? It doesn’t. We’d like to tell you about several corruption scandals that prove the embezzlement of 60 billion dollars, which is equal to the most recent large aid package.
Want to know more? [redacted] stole 5.5 billion dollars. The co-founder of the Ukrainian state-run bank was a long-time partner and friend of Mr. Zelensky. He’s under U.S. sanctions and is currently in prison.
According to the Panama Papers report, 41 million dollars of this money was transferred to Mr. Zelensky’s accounts. So why is there no investigation into Mr. Zelensky’s theft of Ukrainian people’s money?
One billion dollars the Minister of Defense, [redacted], has stolen. He moved this money to rogue firms on the first day of the war. We published more than one investigation on the topic, but he’s still walking the streets.
And here they were stealing billions, and that’s okay. He joined the war. Well, people are dying, and that’s what tears me apart. Is this a lot? Timber trade alone by the Ukrainian forest companies should annually bring $22 billion to the nation’s budget.
However, OSINT reports indicate that this money goes into the pockets of Ukrainian officials. It’s $50 billion over the course of the war with Russia. Even the head of a small village office was found to keep $4 million at home.
And there are more stories like that. But the main cash flow goes to quarters of power. $ 1.1 billion, the Kyiv tax department employee poached. Radio Svoboda reports she’s under charges of unlawful enrichment.
$32 million, the head of the Zaporosia administration, snitched from the Fortification Construction Budget, 360 News reports. $500 million is the amount of funds proven to be stolen from the construction of fortifications, according to the head of the investigative committee, Mikhail Bondar.
The SBU general, who accused me of treason for a call for peace on telegram, has been detained in Serbia with over $20 million worth of cash, jewels, and crypto assets. $40 million, the head of the big building national program, has been stolen from the National Anti-Corruption Office, NABU reports.
The program is under the supervision of Zelensky’s office. Ekanomichiskaipravda states that the Minister of Agricultural Policy profited from illicit land contracts to the tune of $12 million. $21 million, the head of the tax service, [redacted], received as a bribe.
This is the official information from the National Anti-Corruption Office. $52 million, Rada member Yaroslav Dubenevich stolen gas supply contracts, Radio Svoboda reports. He’s now on the wanted list.
The Minister of Infrastructure and the head of the Ukraine Restoration Foundation received kickbacks of $50,000 in bitcoins, $150 000, and $12 million in cash, and that’s only the proven instances. How do you like it?
And that’s just a drop in the ocean. These are the cases with evidence we talk about time after time. By we, I mean honest journalists. We have a plethora of investigations on the topic, but they unleash hell on us.
Meanwhile, their bosses steal. Here on X, Jason J. Smart attacks anyone who highlights the sins of the Ukrainian government. A journalist from the only TV channel in Ukraine currently buys a $500,000 property with a monthly salary of $700.
The Ukrainian government has seized the monopoly on information and paid for defenders. These defenders are, in fact, their partners in crime who live off stolen money. It’s politicians; it’s volunteers.
They rob us, they threaten us with criminal proceedings, they do what they can to silence us. On behalf of Ukrainian journalists, I’m asking those who allocate funds for Ukraine to stop them. They’re stealing your money.
Ordinary Ukrainians die on the front lines, die in poverty, while they’re grafting the U.S. taxpayers’ money. Let’s stop this theft together.
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