Russia estimates nearly 30% of its battlefield resources are stolen by corrupt Russians and sold to Hezbollah, etc. The Ukrainian theft rate, in contrast, is less than 2%. The stark difference in those statistics shows (1) the motivation of Ukrainian soldiers (the very existence of their country is at stake) and (2) anti-misuse technology in NATO weapons (Russia has no such technology).
The Putin lovers have been saying the aid will be stolen from the beginning. That talk has always been to weaken the public's support for such aid.
The reality of course, that we have all clearly seen and you and others have pointed out, is that Ukraine has been using all that military aid to effectively fight back against the Russian invaders.
Ukraine was acknowledged to be the 2nd most corrupt country in Europe behind only Russia prior to the invasion.
Only a fool would pretend dumping BILLIONS of unaccountable money and aid into a country this corrupt wouldn't result in wide scale theft.
Zelensky fired a slew of top government officials in January who were all somehow filthy rich after 2022.
In Russia it is a crime to "disparage" the military. Reporters get sent to jail for years for trying to report the truth about the war. So, by law, Russian media sources are propaganda because it is against the law to say anything about the Russian military that is at all critical of the war effort.
Ukraine's media is not perfect and there has been the same kind of power dynamics between the media and the Ukraine government that is present in all other Western democracies. But Ukraine does have press freedom and the Kyiv Independent was formed in response to the government's efforts to meddle with the Kyiv Post, which was eventually shut down. But what has been interesting recently is how Ukraine media has reported movements in Bakhmut, which were promptly denied by Russia only to then have Prigozhin confirm the Ukraine media's story and then Russia backtracks and confirms the retreat.
So, Russian media is 100% garbage most of the time. Ukraine media is to be taken with a grain of salt because it has the same issues with using government sources that all media outlets in the West do. But Ukraine's media is independent and does not risk years in jail for providing critical reporting on the war.
Maria Ponomarenko, a Russian journalist, was sentenced to six years in prison for “spreading false information about the Russian armed forces’ actions” in Ukraine.
It is absurd to think that since Russia is a totalitarian state that, therefore, Ukrainian sourced information must be true and any information from Russia must be false.
Ukraine's media is NOT independent. Zelensky has jailed journalists and just made sweeping legal changes which will allow him to persecute journalists who don't toe the line just as Russia does.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed into law a controversial statute expanding the government’s power to regulate media groups and journalists in the country. Zelensky signed the le…
Ukraine was acknowledged to be the 2nd most corrupt country in Europe behind only Russia prior to the invasion.
Only a fool would pretend dumping BILLIONS of unaccountable money and aid into a country this corrupt wouldn't result in wide scale theft.
Zelensky fired a slew of top government officials in January who were all somehow filthy rich after 2022.
Ukraine, like Russia, certainly has had issues with corruption which was well known before the invasion. Corruption can exists in the US military supply chain as well, but is dealt with when discovered and people go to jail. In the case you referenced, that is an example of the Ukraine government uncovering corruption and quickly dealing with it.
We see that the military aid is being used effectively and not wasted. If Ukraine was so dysfunctional and corrupt, they would not have made the military gains that they have and we would not be seeing US weapons being used so effectively there.
Ukraine was acknowledged to be the 2nd most corrupt country in Europe behind only Russia prior to the invasion.
Only a fool would pretend dumping BILLIONS of unaccountable money and aid into a country this corrupt wouldn't result in wide scale theft.
Zelensky fired a slew of top government officials in January who were all somehow filthy rich after 2022.
Ukraine, like Russia, certainly has had issues with corruption which was well known before the invasion. Corruption can exists in the US military supply chain as well, but is dealt with when discovered and people go to jail. In the case you referenced, that is an example of the Ukraine government uncovering corruption and quickly dealing with it.
We see that the military aid is being used effectively and not wasted. If Ukraine was so dysfunctional and corrupt, they would not have made the military gains that they have and we would not be seeing US weapons being used so effectively there.
We have absolutely ZERO idea the aid is being used effectively as there is ZERO oversight.
And what "military gains" are you talking about? Russia occupies 20% of Ukraine and Ukraine has shown itself to be absolutely powerless to do anything about it.
Ukraine, like Russia, certainly has had issues with corruption which was well known before the invasion. Corruption can exists in the US military supply chain as well, but is dealt with when discovered and people go to jail. In the case you referenced, that is an example of the Ukraine government uncovering corruption and quickly dealing with it.
We see that the military aid is being used effectively and not wasted. If Ukraine was so dysfunctional and corrupt, they would not have made the military gains that they have and we would not be seeing US weapons being used so effectively there.
We have absolutely ZERO idea the aid is being used effectively as there is ZERO oversight.
And what "military gains" are you talking about? Russia occupies 20% of Ukraine and Ukraine has shown itself to be absolutely powerless to do anything about it.
No gains? Are you serious? The gains are demonstrably clear.
Ukraine repulsed the assault on Kiev. Ukraine took back most of Russia's gains made from the initial invasion with Ukraine's Fall Counteroffensive. It's obvious what the UA has done. It's all clear on the maps.
We have absolutely ZERO idea the aid is being used effectively as there is ZERO oversight.
And what "military gains" are you talking about? Russia occupies 20% of Ukraine and Ukraine has shown itself to be absolutely powerless to do anything about it.
No gains? Are you serious? The gains are demonstrably clear.
Ukraine repulsed the assault on Kiev. Ukraine took back most of Russia's gains made from the initial invasion with Ukraine's Fall Counteroffensive. It's obvious what the UA has done. It's all clear on the maps.
Russia invaded thinking Ukraine wouldn't fight back and that could win quickly. When it became apparent that Ukraine was going to fight Russia repositioned it's forces.
Calling that Ukrainian "gains" is a stretch.
Since Russia's repositioning ended in October 2022 the front has moved in Russia's favor or not at all.
Oh, so Russia didn't fail at taking Kiev and also retreat and give up territory in the east and retreat across the Dnieper in Kherson, they "repositioned their forces."
And you say everything I know is propaganda? Lol man! Lol!
Oh, so Russia didn't fail at taking Kiev and also retreat and give up territory in the east and retreat across the Dnieper in Kherson, they "repositioned their forces."
And you say everything I know is propaganda? Lol man! Lol!
Of course they failed. Why did they fail?
Because their plan was Ukraine not fighting back which is why their soldiers were driving around as if on parade and we have cell phone calls from russian troops saying they weren't even told they were going into combat.
You don't know anything that wasn't fed to you by the Ukrainian PR team...
Oh, so Russia didn't fail at taking Kiev and also retreat and give up territory in the east and retreat across the Dnieper in Kherson, they "repositioned their forces."
And you say everything I know is propaganda? Lol man! Lol!
Of course they failed. Why did they fail?
Because their plan was Ukraine not fighting back which is why their soldiers were driving around as if on parade and we have cell phone calls from russian troops saying they weren't even told they were going into combat.
You don't know anything that wasn't fed to you by the Ukrainian PR team...
We know all that. That all shows the dysfunction of the Russian military, not any sort of plan. That chaos and confusion was all due to their command structure and their distrust of their own troops to maintain OPSEC.
Adult, look at the facts on the ground and what has transpired over the last year to Russia in their invasion.
You keep insisting that it is all going according to their plan.
Don't you think it's possible that maybe you are the one who's opinions and perspective has been affected by propaganda? I'm asking this seriously, not being argumentative.
Because their plan was Ukraine not fighting back which is why their soldiers were driving around as if on parade and we have cell phone calls from russian troops saying they weren't even told they were going into combat.
You don't know anything that wasn't fed to you by the Ukrainian PR team...
We know all that. That all shows the dysfunction of the Russian military, not any sort of plan. That chaos and confusion was all due to their command structure and their distrust of their own troops to maintain OPSEC.
If you think the Russian military is the only military that doesn't trust its troops with operational data until they absolutely have to you're a fool.
Adult, look at the facts on the ground and what has transpired over the last year to Russia in their invasion.
You keep insisting that it is all going according to their plan.
Don't you think it's possible that maybe you are the one who's opinions and perspective has been affected by propaganda? I'm asking this seriously, not being argumentative.
I never said it was all going to plan. I clearly said their initial plan failed.
Russia then made a new plan. Which was to focus on the Donbas and securing a land bridge to Crimea. Which is what they've been doing.
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