Ukraine: Corruption Reincarnate
False Pretenses
Following the attacks on September 11th, the US entered what would come to be a 20-year “War” under false pretenses. Less than a month following the attacks and with the overwhelming support of the American people, we proceeded to bomb Afghanistan even though the majority of the hijackers were Saudi Arabian nationalists, not Afghani. Additionally, we deepened our involvement in the Middle East under the guise of intelligence reports finding Al-Qaeda in possession of “Weapons of Mass Destruction.” This of course was false, and yet, our leaders’ insatiable appetite for war went untrammeled.
What was the result of these decisions? According to data collected by Brown University, “20 years of post 9/11 wars have cost the U.S. an estimated $8 trillion and have killed more than 900,000 people.” Furthermore, following our abrupt pull-out in 2021, the same Taliban group that we overthrew immediately took back over Afghanistan with the help of the more than $7.1B in U.S.-funded military equipment left there. American support for middle-east intervention was sky-high, now, I’d be hard-pressed to find many people who’d consider the 20-year conflict a good decision and or a success.
Present day, I can’t help but feel we are entering ourselves into a similar scenario in regard to Ukraine with the added caveat of far greater consequences.
Incentive
Last Thursday, President Biden asked Congress to provide an additional $24 billion in Ukrainian aid. If President Biden gets his wish, this would make it a total of $137 billion in Ukrainian aid provided since the Russian invasion dating back to February 2021. A figure representing roughly $7.6B per month. Included in the $113B we’ve already provided are F-16 fighter jets, Abrams tanks, Javelins anti-armor system, Stringer air defense weapons, Howitzers, high mobility artillery rocket systems, and ammunition.
Charles Munger, Warren Buffet’s right-hand man and the purported “Smartest man he’s ever known” has a quote that I often think of, “Show me the incentive, I’ll show you the outcome.” When examining the Ukrainian conflict, a fair question to ask is “Who are the players and what is the incentive?”
The military-industrial apparatus, including contractors and the security state, concentrate more wealth and power the deeper we invest in this conflict and the longer it goes on. Our bought-and-paid-for politicians who are often puppets for the military-industrial complex and multinational corporations are able to further transfer wealth from the people over to the corrupt bureaucracy that funds them and their interests. War is extremely profitable for central banks that finance military efforts, the longer and larger the war, the more money is made on interest in a time of skyrocketed interest rates. Following a war, central banks finance the rebuilding of war-torn countries, the more damage, the more money. BlackRock, the world’s largest and most powerful corporation with an estimated $10 trillion in assets under management (The third largest GDP in the world behind the US and China) recently met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy where the two sides agreed to set up a reconstruction bank that will raise billions in private and public equity to rebuild the country. Again, the more damage done to Ukraine, the bigger the untold payoff for BlackRock.
When examining the Ukrainian incentive, this breaks down into two groups, the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian elite. What benefits the Ukrainian people is not “winning” or “losing” the war, but instead, a peaceful resolution that preserves life and the homeland. What benefits those in Ukrainian power is very much the opposite. In 2020 and prior to the Russian invasion, the size of the Ukrainian economy was $545B. In only a year and a half, the US alone has contributed over $113B, nearly 21% of the country’s total economy including all goods and services. To illustrate what a disproportionate influx of money and resources this is, 21% of the total US GDP would be roughly 5 trillion dollars. With little-to-no oversight being provided by our congress nor the Ukrainian government, do we think these incredible sums of money are being spent appropriately and efficiently? During the covid-era for example, estimates on the amount of stolen relief funds are as high as $400B or 40% of all covid relief money paid, most of which is attributed to fraud.
Maidan Revolution
In order to understand what led to Western power influence and interest in Ukraine, it is necessary to understand the Maidan Revolution of 2014. Ukraine, and Ukrainian people more generally, have been and continue to be torn in allegiance. On one side, Ukrainians wanting the country to move in the direction of the Western world of Europe and the United States, and on the other, closer ties with neighboring Russia as many Ukrainians consider themselves to be Russian. In an effort to isolate Russia, the Western powers desired to have Ukraine become part of the sphere of influence whether as part of NATO or the EU.
The Ukrainian far-right faction known as the Svoboda Party was a Nazi organization, not the type of “Nazis” progressives call free-speech advocates, actual Nazis. The minority Svoboda Party desired to oust then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych from office because he was seen as “Russian-friendly.” What culminated were violent protests that led to the death of nearly 70 people. As laid out by the New York-based socialist publication Jacobin, “Svoboda used its considerable resources, which included thousands of ideologically committed activists, party coffers, and the power and prominence afforded to it as a parliamentary party, to mobilize and keep the protests alive, while eventually leading the occupation of key government buildings in both Kyiv and the western regions.” Ultimately, the violent protests were successful and President Yanukovych fled for his life.
As the expression goes, nature abhors a vacuum and the void left by the corrupt Yanukovych was filled by corruption under a different guise. Considerable evidence points to the fact that at minimum, the US and the Obama administration supported the Maidan uprising effort led by far-right Nazis and at most, the US administration heavily aided it through funding provided through groups such as “New Citizen” who reportedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars from “US democracy promotion initiatives” according to journalist Mark Ames. From the Jacobin, “For decades, Washington and allied governments have pursued their strategic and economic interests under the cover of promoting democracy and liberal values abroad. Sometimes that’s meant funneling money to violent reactionaries like the Nicaraguan contras, and sometimes it’s meant supporting benign pro-democracy movements like those in Ukraine.” Moreover, “Did Americans meddle in the internal affairs of Ukraine? Yes. The American agents of influence would prefer different language to describe their activities — democratic assistance, democracy promotion, civil society support, etc. — but their work, however labeled, seeks to influence political change in Ukraine.”
Whether the US and the Obama administration directly or indirectly provided funding to the far-right coupe effort is somewhat beside the point when you consider the proof that we met with and supported leaders of the revolution. In an article from December 2013, The Guardian quotes former Senator John McCain who went to Ukraine to show allyship alongside Senator Chris Murphy, stating, “We are here to support your just cause.” Another piece from The Insider entitled, “John McCain Went To Ukraine And Stood On Stage With A Man Accused Of Being An Anti-Semitic Neo-Nazi” states in the article, “McCain was repeatedly photographed with Oleh Tyahnybok, the leader of the right wing nationalist party Svoboda” (Photograph below). In the photo is a third man by the name of Arseniy Yatsenyuk. The connection to Yatsenyuk is an interesting one because following the successful overthrowing of the government, it is the US government that organized and installed the post-revolution Ukrainian government. In an article published by the BBC reporting on a leaked phone conversation between Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, George Pyatt, Nuland can be heard pushing the propping up of Yatsenyuk to a leadership position, stating, “Yats is the guy who’s got the economic experience, the governing experience.” Unsurprisingly, Yatsenyuk went on to become Prime Minister of Ukraine in February 2014.
Following the outbreak of the far-right-led revolt, President Obama tasked Vice President Biden with the handling of Ukraine, opening the door to established ties with the corrupt Oligarchic superstructure. While it is unclear whether the U.S.-supported revolution that led to the overthrowing of a democratically-elected leader was truly motivated by the want to isolate Russia to effectively weaken the country or it was a strategic move fueled by corruption, (although I’d speculate the latter) what is clear, is the level of corruption that has since taken place at the expense of the Ukrainian people and the US taxpayer.
U.S. Senator John McCain, right, meets Ukrainian opposition leaders Arseniy Yatsenyuk, left, and Oleh Tyahnybok in Kiev, Ukraine, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013. Photo courtesy of The Insider and AP
Nuland and Pyatt (center) met Ukrainian opposition leaders Vitaly Klitschko (L) and Arseny Yatsenyuk (R). Photo courtesy of BBC and Reuters.
Zelenskyy & Ukrainian Corruption
When examining Ukraine as a country it is important and necessary to make a distinction between the Ukrainian people and Ukraine’s corrupt oligarchical and governmental power structure. When looking at the latter, a 2019 article from the Brookings Institute states, “The 2018 Transparency International Corruption Index ranks Ukraine 120 out of 180 countries. The 2019-2024 USAID Country Development Cooperation Strategy for Ukraine categorizes Ukraine as ‘the most corrupt country in Europe.” Now, let’s examine the Ukrainian President and “Freedom Fighter” Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Prior to becoming President, Zelenskyy was an actor and comedian. His most prominent role being in “Servant of the People,” a show in which Zelenskyy plays a high-school teacher fed up with Ukrainian corruption who goes on to become a quasi-savior as the President of Ukraine. The network the show was created for and broadcasted on was owned by billionaire oligarch Igor Kolomoisky. Following the success of the show and subsequent fervor of the Ukrainian people for a cleansing of corruption, Kolomoisky went on to be the greatest funder and driver of Zelenskyy’s presidential campaign including being his advisor and having his personal lawyer represent Volodymyr. In short, Zelenskyy was billionaire oligarch Kolomoisky’s puppet.
Despite being heralded as a hero and a preserver of freedom, Zelenskyy’s actions since assuming the role of the presidency have been anything but. In July of last year, Zelenskyy took control of Ukraine’s TV outlets, consolidating the news into one 24-hour news station. While doing so, Zelenskyy excluded news broadcasts from politically opposing perspectives so that the only information coming to Ukrainians regarding the war comes personally approved by the administration. In December of last year, Zelenskyy signed a decree that banned “Religious organizations with links to Russia” including Ukrainian Orthodox and Russian Orthodox Christianity, the nation’s largest and most observed religion. In March of last year, Zelenskyy announced a ban on 11 different Ukrainian political parties including the country’s largest opposition party. Perhaps it is in my historical ignorance but I do not know many “great arbiters of freedom” who eradicated religion, opposing political parties, and speech from their people.
It is, however, Zelenskyy’s link to the aforementioned Kolomoisky and the billionaire’s “controlling interest” in the Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings that I am most interested in.
Burisma
Founded in 2002 and based in Kyiv, Burisma Holdings Limited is the largest private gas company in Ukraine. In a 2020 87-page report put together by the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Burisma is a company that is written on in great detail especially as it relates to its board of directors and associations.
Pulling directly from the report, “On April 16, 2014, Vice President Biden met with his son’s business partner, Devon Archer, at the White House. Five days later, Vice President Biden visited Ukraine, and he soon after was described in the press as the “public face of the administration’s handling of Ukraine.”The day after his visit, on April 22, Archer joined the board of Burisma. Six days later, on April 28, British officials seized $23 million from the London bank accounts of Burisma’s owner, Mykola Zlochevsky. Fourteen days later, on May 12, Hunter Biden joined the board of Burisma, and over the course of the next several years, Hunter Biden and Devon Archer were paid millions of dollars from a corrupt Ukrainian oligarch for their participation on the board.”
Needless to say, these are bold claims being put forth by the Senate Committee which is incentivized to put their thumb on the scale against the opposing political party. However, this is easily verifiable information. When looking into then Vice President Joe Biden’s trip to Ukraine on April 21st, 2014, I came across this NPR article dated April 21st, 2014. “Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Ukraine’s capital city, Kiev, on Monday. He was expected to offer energy and economic aid. Reuters says: “Briefing reporters on board Biden’s plane, [a senior administration] official said the assistance was made up primarily of technical know-how to help boost energy efficiency as well as production in Ukrainian natural gas fields and extraction of ‘unconventional’ gas resources.”
Moreover, the claim made that Hunter Biden was appointed to the Board of Burisma in 2014 is also easily verifiable. Though you could pull from innumerable publications, an article from the left-leaning CNBC. “Ukraine’s largest private gas producer announced on Tuesday that it added R. Hunter Biden—the son of U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden—to its board of directors. In a statement on its website, Burisma Holdings said the younger Biden will be in charge of the company’s legal unit, while providing support “among international organizations.”
More recently, when confronted on the conflict of interest between Hunter and Burisma, Joe Biden stated that he’s, “Never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings.” However, this contradicts emails submitted to the New York Post that are pulled directly from Hunter Biden’s laptop. In the email below which was sent on April 17, 2015, Vadym Pozharski, an adviser to Burisma’s board of directors thanked Hunter for brokering a meeting with then-Vice President Joe Biden.
Additionally cited in the report are claims that recently became corroborated by Hunter Biden’s former business partner and fellow Burisma board member Devon Archer which include Joe Biden’s pressuring of the Ukrainian government to have a prosecutor investigating Burisma fired for looking into corruption. In a New York Post article on Archer’s recent interview, “Ukrainian prosecutor-general Viktor Shokin, who was fired after then-Vice President Joe Biden threatened to pull $1 billion in US aid, was “a threat” to natural gas company Burisma Holdings, which paid Hunter Biden up to $1 million per year, the first son’s former business partner Devon Archer confirmed in an interview released Friday.”
The investigation into Hunter Biden’s business dealings additionally found millions of dollars of cash flows from Chinese nationals with links to the Chinese communist party, a 3.5 million dollar wire transfer from Elena Baturina, the wife of the former mayor of Moscow, and payments made to women “who appear to be linked to an Eastern European prostitution of human trafficking ring,” to name a few.
Without having to make great leaps, one can reasonably wonder whether the millions of dollars that the Biden family received through Hunter and Devon Archer is somehow related to the $113 billion dollars we’ve sent to one of the world’s most corrupt governments and whose president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is a puppet installed by a corrupt billionaire with a controlling interest in the very company Hunter Biden sat on the board of.
Diplomatic Resolution
I can’t help but notice the rising of an odd and familiar war fervor that is permeating through the halls of Congress, media airwaves, and greater society. Although this Ukrainian war effort is most supported by those on the political left, uniquely, it is one of the only issues that has received overwhelming support from both political parties including from the Republican senate minority leader Mitch McConnell. With all of the corruption exhibited from both sides of the aisle and the inability to get anything meaningful achieved for the citizenry, it is enough to cause concern when a proxy war is what unites our elected officials.
The off-ramp to a peaceful resolution seems relatively clear and unchanging since my original examination of this Eastern European conflict. In our military-industrial complex’s desire for greater wealth and power, we’ve reneged on our original agreement to no longer expand NATO and added several Russia-neighboring countries into the organization. The issue with this is that the US puts bases and a military presence in NATO-aligned countries and Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy greatly desires to have Ukraine admitted into the organization effectively putting US arms on land connected to Russia. This would be the equivalent to Russia allying with Mexico and Canada and putting weapons and a military presence in Windsor Canada and San Juan Mexico. Furthermore, Zelenskyy has made no uncertain claims that the war is not over until Crimea once again belongs to Ukraine. Without a single bullet being fired, Crimea rejoined Russian territory in 2014 meaning that the mission for Zelenskyy is no longer the defense of the country, rather, it is to conquer Russian territory. Further indicating the Ukrainian aid is no longer designed to fend off the Russian invasion, in March of this year President Biden stated, “[Putin] cannot remain in power” indicating the goalpost has now moved to wanting a world superpower to be overthrown. Russia, a country with a nuclear arsenal that rivals or exceeds the United States, will not allow this to happen without an ugly and brutal fight. The fact that a nuclear weapon has not been dropped yet is evidence of restraint from Putin and Russian leaders. The longer we allow this to go on, the deeper the alliance forms between China and Russia, and with it, less global reliance on the U.S. dollar and a greater chance of World War III.
The goal of the war should not be for Ukraine to win and Russia to lose, rather it ought to be peace. Peace, it appears, comes from granting Russia the connected Donbas region (and or Donbas autonomy) comprising a citizenry that is already 90% Russian-identifying and with fierce anti-Ukrainian sentiment. Additionally, Russia should be granted a guarantee that Ukraine will never join NATO. Russia, a country with a sub-par military and an economy the size of Florida is not in a position to go out on a conquering crusade, Russia is not Nazi Germany and Putin is not Hitler. While Putin is an authoritarian and ultimately at fault for the invasion of Ukraine, we’ve backed him into a corner, a bad place to put someone the US repeatedly acknowledges is a tyrannical threat.
Following the horrendous mismanagement of the covid-epidemic including the likely scenario of our tax dollars funding the creation of the virus itself through gain-of-function research funding, the economic landscape has been a difficult one for working Americans. As a country, US citizens just surpassed $1 trillion dollars in collective credit card debt in addition to the lowest level of bank savings in several decades. The last thing we need at this point is greater devalued currency and higher taxation to support the continuance of a war that we have no vested interest in. Despite pulling out of the Middle East, we have now entered ourselves into a proxy war with a world superpower with no end in sight, or as President Biden puts it, “Today, tomorrow, and for as long as it takes.” However, wasted money that is fraudulently stolen will be the least of our concerns should this conflict continue without ceasing. War is incredibly profitable for those in power, we already fell for the sleight of hand over the last twenty years, perhaps we should learn from our past and not do it once more. This pro-Ukraine sentiment is not about “Freedom and Independence,” it’s the latest iteration of a pro-war agenda that serves the interest of the corrupt few at the expense of the people, foreign and domestic.
To put it simply, even if Russia was not ruled by a corrupt authoritarian leader like Vladimir Putin, Russia, like the United States, would still have an interest in the security policies of its neighbors. Does anyone really believe that the United States would not have something to say if, for example, Mexico was to form a military alliance with a US adversary? Countries should be free to make their own foreign policy choices, but making those choices wisely requires a serious consideration of the costs and benefits. The fact is that the US and Ukraine entering into a deeper security relationship is likely to have some very serious costs – for both countries”
Sen. Bernie Sanders