CIA aware of widespread corruption in Ukraine, embezzlement of US aid, claims Seymour Hersh

New Delhi: Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has published a report that alleged the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was aware of widespread corruption in Ukraine and the embezzlement of US aid. The report said the Ukrainian government has been using US taxpayer money to purchase diesel from Russia to fuel its military. The report further suggested that Ukrainian officials are also “competing” to set up front companies for export contracts to private arms dealers around the world. The issue of corruption was raised during a meeting between CIA Director William Burns and Zelensky in January. An intelligence official with direct knowledge of the meeting told Hersh that Burns delivered a stunning message to Zelensky. Hersh wrote: “The senior generals and government officials in Kiev were angry at what they saw as Zelensky’s greed, so Burns told the Ukrainian president, because ‘he was taking a larger share of the skim money than was going to the generals.’” The Pentagon Leaks Over the past few weeks, several classified documents, some even marked “top secret”, found their way on the internet. The intelligence leak is shaping up to be one of the most damaging in decades, officials said. But what exactly has been revealed in the documents? The leaked documents offer a very tantalising and unique view of the Russia-Ukraine war, which began in February 2022. The cache of documents reveal that Ukraine is suffering heavy losses in the war, especially in Bakhmut. It also outlines the “critical shortages of air defense munitions”. The documents also included training schedules of 12 Ukraine combat brigades, revealing that nine of them were being trained by US and NATO forces, and needed 250 tanks and more than 350 mechanised vehicles. They also include details of expenditure rates for munitions under Ukraine military control, including the HIMARS rocket systems. The leaked documents also reveal how deeply Russia’s security and intelligence services have been penetrated by the United States. The documents contain daily real-time warnings to US intelligence agencies on the timing of Moscow’s strikes and even its specific targets. This has enabled Washington to prepare Kyiv for the attacks and its defence. The leaks also seem to indicate that the United States is also spying on Ukraine’s top military and political leaders. And the spying doesn’t stop there. The leaked documents have also shown that Washington is spying on its allies — something that could hurt US diplomatically. The leaked documents revealed that South Korea, a key ally of the US, is torn about supplying ammunition to Ukraine. This is because of its official policy of not providing lethal weapons to countries at war. Ukraine’s long battle with corruption Widespread systemic corruption is steeped in Ukraine long before Russia’s invasion last February. A 2016 report by the watchdog group Transparency International found that between 38 per cent to 42 per cent of Ukrainian households said they paid bribes to access basic public services such as education or healthcare, reported Time. Al Jazeera noted that year Ukraine was the second most corrupt nation in Europe, with Russia being the most corrupt at 136. Ukraine performed slightly better and was placed in 116th position out of 180 nations in the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index released on Tuesday (31 January). Russia was ranked 137th on the index. “Unfortunately, this type of widespread systemic corruption is complicated to tackle and requires sustained efforts for at least a generation or even more,” Cristian Nitoiu, a lecturer in diplomacy and international governance at Loughborough University, told Al Jazeera in June last year. “The legacy of the Soviet Union plays an important role, as citizens had to learn how to navigate a system of informal relations and rules, where everyone had equal rights on paper, but in practice, some people were more ‘equal’ than others”. “These developments are not unique to Ukraine, as most post-Soviet and Communist countries experienced them, including Russia, but Ukraine, alongside Moldova, were extreme cases,” Nitoiu explained further. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.