{"id":2518733,"date":"2025-12-08T12:06:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T17:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/now-they-tell-us-new-york-times-reports-zelenskyys-corrupt-govt-misspent-western-aid-stifled-audits\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T12:09:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T17:09:27","slug":"now-they-tell-us-new-york-times-reports-zelenskyys-corrupt-govt-misspent-western-aid-stifled-audits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/now-they-tell-us-new-york-times-reports-zelenskyys-corrupt-govt-misspent-western-aid-stifled-audits\/","title":{"rendered":"Now They Tell Us: New York Times Reports Zelenskyy&#8217;s Corrupt Gov&#8217;t Misspent Western Aid, Stifled Audits"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnow-they-tell-us-new-york-times-reports-zelenskyys-corrupt-govt-misspent-western-aid-stifled-audits%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2518733&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses recent admissions by media outlets, especially The New York Times, suggesting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy&#8217;s government may have been involved in misappropriating Western aid intended for Ukraine&#8217;s war effort. Despite initial assurances that oversight mechanisms would prevent corruption, investigations have revealed systematic sabotage of these controls, allowing graft to flourish particularly in Ukraine&#8217;s defense and energy sectors. Supervisory boards designed to monitor spending were weakened or bypassed,leading to billions of dollars being spent without proper supervision. Efforts to create independent agencies to clean up procurement have been undermined by political pressure from the Zelensky management. Although European and American donors provide important financial support,there is growing concern about the lack of openness and ongoing corruption,with accusations that state-owned enterprises serve as financial resources for Ukraine&#8217;s elite. The article highlights a pattern of willful incompetence and ineffective anti-corruption measures, casting doubt on weather Western aid is properly used amidst the ongoing conflict.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Well, what do you know? It turns out the media is admitting Volodymyr Zelenskyy&rsquo;s government in Ukraine&nbsp;<em>might<\/em> have stolen Western aid, after all.<\/p>\n<p>In the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/liberal-outlet-puts-reporter-leave-relationship-subject-relevant-2024-campaign\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">least shocking development<\/a> since the discovery that &ldquo;The Politician&rdquo; in that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/12\/02\/books\/review\/american-canto-olivia-nuzzi.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">horrid Olivia Nuzzi book<\/a> is, in fact, supposed to be Robert F. Kennedy Jr., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/12\/05\/world\/europe\/ukraine-corruption-zelensky.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The New York Times<\/a> belatedly discovered that NATO funds might be intertwined among the funds those in Zelenskyy&rsquo;s orbit has pilfered.<\/p>\n<p>As you&rsquo;ve probably heard if you follow the Russia-Ukraine conflict &mdash; especially if you&rsquo;re not entirely convinced that an unchecked flow of money and materiel to Ukraine isn&rsquo;t the best idea &mdash; &nbsp;Zelenskyy and his advisers have been at the center of a massive embezzlement scheme involving the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >state-run nuclear energy operator<\/a>. As you&rsquo;ve probably heard from a usually Zelenskyy-uncritical media, too, that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pro-hamas-rioters-in-d-c-confirm-j-d-vances-perspective-on-america\/\" title=\"Pro-Hamas Rioters in D.C. Confirm J.D. Vance&#039;s Perspective on America\">aid wasn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t supposed to be unchecked; we were assured that there were guardrails in the form of independent criminal investigators ensuring our money went where it was supposed to.<\/p>\n<p>In a Sunday report, the Times confirmed what anyone with common sense could have probably told you: That wasn&rsquo;t&nbsp;<em>quite<\/em> the case:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>When Russian troops invaded Ukraine, Kyiv&rsquo;s Western allies faced a dilemma: how to spend billions supporting a government fighting Russia without watching the money vanish into the pockets of corrupt managers and government officials.<\/em><\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p><em>The stakes were high because Ukraine&rsquo;s vital wartime industries &mdash; power distribution, weapons purchases and nuclear energy &mdash; were controlled by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/blumenthal-and-wife-have-six-figure-investment-in-chinese-government-linked-retail-center\/\" title=\"Blumenthal and Wife Have Six-Figure Investment in Chinese ...-Linked Retail Center\">state-owned companies<\/a> that have long served as piggy banks for the country&rsquo;s elite.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>To protect their money, the United States and European nations insisted on oversight. They required Ukraine to allow groups of outside experts, known as supervisory boards, to monitor spending, appoint executives and prevent corruption.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Over the past four years, a New York Times investigation found, the Ukrainian government systematically sabotaged that oversight, allowing graft to flourish.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Huh. How &rsquo;bout that!<\/p>\n<p>The article goes on to note that Zelenskyy&rsquo;s government actively disbanded or weakened agencies that oversaw graft prosecutions, which had the natural effect you&rsquo;d think it would: It allowed systemic corruption in defense spending, including at Ukraine&rsquo;s Defense Procurement Agency.<\/p>\n<p>From the Times:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>More than a year into the war, after a scandal erupted over inflated defense contracts, donors pushed Kyiv to create an independent agency to clean up weapon purchases.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Yet, since its start in January 2024, the agency has spent at least $1 billion in European money either with an incomplete supervisory board or without one at all.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Maryna Bezrukova, the agency&rsquo;s first head, said that the absence of a board during her first year in the job left her vulnerable to pressure from the Zelensky administration. She said the Defense Ministry had pushed her to approve dubious contracts, including one with a state-owned weapons factory that could not effectively produce mortar shells.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&ldquo;Supervisory boards are just window dressing,&rdquo; Bezrukova told the Times. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re not real.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>And, while the United States is backing off of its funding of the Ukraine conflict, that hasn&rsquo;t stopped Kyiv from wasting what money gets thrown their way. Even with the Europeans being the biggest contributor to Ukraine&rsquo;s defense now, former State Department official Tyson Barker said that &ldquo;the Europeans are creating a permissive environment for this kind of backsliding.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Again from the Times, one last snippet:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>The European Commission, the administrative arm of the European Union, quietly commissioned a report this year into corruption risks in Ukraine&rsquo;s energy industry. A copy of the report, obtained by The Times, warned of &ldquo;persistent political interference.&rdquo; The report, by the Ukrainian Facility Platform, a nonprofit research group, singled out Kyiv&rsquo;s undermining of supervisory boards as a critical problem.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>A spokeswoman for the European Union said officials have pressed Ukraine to reform its state-owned businesses. There&rsquo;s no evidence that European Union money was misused, she said.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Yes, even now, we&rsquo;re being assured that there&rsquo;s no evidence that European funds aren&rsquo;t being misused &mdash; because the Europeans basically aren&rsquo;t <em>looking for it<\/em>. Just like the United States did under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/biden-administration-squeezes-significant-new-military-assistance-ukraine-trump-takes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Joe Biden&rsquo;s administration<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p>The only thing that ought to be genuinely gobsmacking about this article is the fact that anyone finds it gobsmacking. What did we think when it was first reported that the Ukrainians demanded that a call for an audit was removed from the proposed Moscow-Kyiv peace deal, to be replaced with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/peace-plan-bombshell-ukrainians-reportedly-re-wrote-plan-give-full-immunity-remove-audit-international-aid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general amnesty on that front<\/a>? Or when the Ukrainians had effectively stonewalled any attempt at imposing some kind of serious check on corruption using the war and the demands of allies as a pretext?<\/p>\n<p>This is willful incompetence of the highest order: only reporting on the lack of headway President Zelenskyy has made on corruption when his government is clearly doomed and the Ukrainian president himself <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/top-ukrainian-official-resigns-corruption-probe-expands-zelenskyys-circle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">says he&rsquo;s not running again<\/a>. Despite $100-plus billion in American assistance since Russia&rsquo;s 2022 invasion, there&rsquo;s been minimal transparency regarding where that&rsquo;s gone. It&rsquo;s likely turned into windfalls for the country&rsquo;s elite &mdash; who, in this case, are aligned with a leader who got into office promising to crack down on corruption. Great job, everyone who insisted there was nothing to see here.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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The New York Times revealed that despite promises of oversight, corruption persisted in Ukraine&#8217;s defense spending and state industries. Efforts to monitor funds were undermined, allowing elite officials to benefit amid ongoing conflict and billions in foreign assistance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2518734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Featured-Image-389.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[8773,33263,6991,68426,10724],"class_list":["post-2518733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-corruption","tag-new-york-times","tag-ukraine","tag-western-aid","tag-zelenskyy"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Featured-Image-389.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2518733"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2518741,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2518733\/revisions\/2518741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2518734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2518733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2518733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2518733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}