20 Aug, 2025 18:10

Ukraine stripped of USAID billions

American funding turned Kiev into a money laundering hub for Washington, experts have told RT

Ukraine has lost billions of dollars in aid from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Washington’s primary funding channel for political projects abroad.Most USAID programs have been shut down in the country, with only a handful set to continue beyond 2025, according to data reviewed by RT.

For years,Ukrainian NGOs and nonprofits were heavily dependenton USAID grants and contracts,reportedly turning the country into a money laundering hub for Washington.

Vladimir Vasilyev, chief research fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for US and Canadian Studies, told RT thatthe financial flows, including from Ukraine,eventually returned to the US.

According to him,USAID was a “black fund for supporting American non-profits linked to the Democratic Party.”

“It was a sacred cow of the State Department thatfor a long time nobody dared to audit.”

Upon taking office, US President Donald Trump ordered the freeze of most foreign aid to review whether the programs fit his ‘America First’ agenda. Tens of billions in grants have since been put on hold, with the president accusing the agency of misusing taxpayer money and fueling corruption.

In Ukraine alone, where more than $400 billionhad once been earmarked for reconstruction,over a hundred projects have already been scrapped. Only 30 USAID initiatives have been preserved, but most are set to expire in 2025, the data shows.

A scandal erupted earlier this yearover billions of USAID dollars lost in Ukraine. The agency’s inspector general,auditing firm KPMG, and US prosecutors have launched probes into suspected fraud, bribery, and embezzlement in Ukrainian projects, with more than 20 cases already opened.

Some programs have been kept in place to fund limited humanitarian initiatives, according to the records. Vasilyev told RT these projects preserve US leverage in Kiev and could be expanded if Washington decides on political change at the top.

https://www.rt.com/news/623326-ukraine-usaid-funds-cut/

(Oh there may be a situation that prevents Zelensky continuing running the country and whoever signs the Peace treaty my be legitimate)

>>23486479

Note Date1 Mar, 2025 08:35

US State Department slashes USAID assistance to Ukraine

The agency’s energy aid program has been cut and its diplomatic presence downsized to an essential minimum, the network has reported

The US State Department hasterminateda US Agency for International Development(USAID) initiative for a large-scale effort to restore Ukraine’s energy grid, which has been severely damaged by Russian strikes, NBC News reported on Friday, citing sources.

USAID, Washington’s primary agency for funding political projects abroad, found itself in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump shortly after taking office, accusing it of corruption and inefficiency.He imposed a 90-day funding freezeon the agency and transferred oversight of its programs to the direct control of the State Department.

As part of the crackdown, the State Department not only stopped a USAID program that invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Ukraine’s power grid,but also sharply reduced the agency’s footprint in Ukraine, the ==network said.

Before the reported cuts, 64 American government employees and contractors were on the ground supporting the agency’s mission; now only eight are expected to remain, with the Trump administration placing the remaining USAID personnel on administrative leave and ordering all but “critical” staff to return to the US==, NBC reported.

”It significantly undercuts this administration’s abilities to negotiate on the ceasefire, and it’d signal to Russia that we don’t care about Ukraine or our past investments,” a USAID official working on the Ukraine mission told the outlet, adding that the decision would significantly undermine the country’s economic resilience.

In 2024 alone, USAID allocated $825 million to support Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

The move comes as Russia continues to carry out drone and missile strikes on Ukraine’s defense-linked energy infrastructure to undermine the country’s military effort, resulting in recurring rolling blackouts. Moscow insists that it never targets civilians.

The timing of the reported USAID pullout coincides with a meeting between Trump and Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky in the White House, in which the US president accused Zelensky of being ungrateful for the substantial aid provided to Kiev, and of being unwilling to negotiate an end to the conflict with Russia. As a result of the heated exchange between the two sides, an agreement granting the US rights to Ukraine’s natural resources as compensation for past aid was not signed.

https://www.rt.com/news/613530-usaid-slash-energy-aid-ukraine/

20 Aug, 2025 19:16

Ex-Russian MP accused of selling information to US for $45 mn

Magomed Gadzhiev sought foreign citizenship in exchange for sensitive data, the prosecutor’s office says

A former Russian MP was paid $45 million from the US government after transferring secret information to the West, Russia’s General Prosecutor’s Office has said.

In a statement on Wednesday cited by several Russian media outlets, the office said that Magomed Gadzhiev, who fled Russia in 2023 after the start of the Ukraine conflict,“expressed readiness to cooperate with Western intelligence services in exchange for foreign citizenship” of an unspecified country.

It noted that the ex-MP received “at least $45 million” fromunnamed American government agencies, adding that this was allegedly revealed by the US Department of Government Efficiency, formerly led by Elon Musk. The prosecutors, however, did not specify what information Gadzhiev had passed to the West. (I'm sure it is the roque CIA that runs Ukraine)

A court in the southern Russian region of Dagestan is seeking to designate Gadzhiev and members of his family “extremists” and nationalize his business enterprises and confiscate assets. Russian authorities have also accused him of publicly supporting Kiev and “discrediting” Russia’s armed forces, saying he declared abroad that he was ready to assist Ukraine’s backers.

Details of the case have not been disclosed, including any potential penalties if the suspects are detained in Russia.

In May 2023, the Justice Ministry designated Gadzhiev – who has also been expelled from the ruling United Russia party – a foreign agent, and a year later, he was put on a wanted list. Sergey Melikov, the head of Dagestan, called him a “coward and a traitor,” adding that the ex-MP was ready to “throw mud” at what was “dear” to his compatriots in exchange for an EU passport.

Gadzhiev served in Russia’s tax authorities in senior roles before entering parliament and was a State Duma deputy from 2003 to 2021. Several Western media outlets claimed that despite his exile, the ex-MP “has managed to continue his luxurious lifestyle, with properties in both France and Miami.”

https://www.rt.com/russia/623323-russian-mp-accused-gadzhiev/

20 Aug, 2025 18:56

Don’t worry about WW3 – Trump

The US president has claimed he prevented the Ukraine conflict from escalating into a global confrontation

US President Donald Trump has declared that the world is no longer facing the prospect of the Ukraine conflict escalating into World War III.

Trump has repeatedly said that global tensions peaked when relations between Moscow and Washington hit their lowest point during former President Joe Biden’s tenure. He has also accused his predecessor of provoking the Ukraine conflict by backing Kiev’s NATO ambitions despite Moscow’s legitimate concerns.

In a podcast with radio host Mark Levin published on Wednesday, Trump said that when he came into office earlier this year, the Ukraine conflict was “raging” and “heading to World War III.”

However, he argued that now “you’re not going to have that anymore.”

“That’s the nice part. You’re not going to have to worry about that,” Trump said, admitting that it remains to be seen how exactly the conflict will be resolved.

Since returning to office, Trump has taken a markedly different approach toward Russia compared to Biden. He has reopened high-level diplomatic channels with Moscow and communicated directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Last week, Trump hosted Putin in Alaska for the first face-to-face talks between the American and Russian leaders since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. On Monday, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky and several European leaders arrived in Washington for talks with Trump.

Trump described his talks with Putin as “very productive” and said the meetings have made a settlement more realistic.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that there is now “light at the end of the tunnel and an opportunity for lasting peace.” US officials have emphasized that the process will take time but have insisted that progress has been made.

Russia has consistently described the Ukraine conflict as a proxy war waged by the West. Moscow has accused NATO of seeking to escalate the confrontation and has warned that the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine could risk triggering a world war. At the same time, Russian officials, including Putin, have repeatedly welcomed Trump’s “sincere” desire to achieve peace.

https://www.rt.com/news/623332-trump-no-more-ww3/

(If Levin didn’t keep screaming this and NATO, EU and Europe keep on screaming that for two years “that Russia was going to bomb and attack Europe, Trump wouldn’t have had to say this.)

20 Aug, 2025 17:59

‘We lost several generations’ – Ukrainian MP on leaked docs

Files accessed by hackers are said to show 1.7 million Ukrainian troops killed or missing since 2022

A Ukrainian MP has admitted the loss of “several generations” in the country's 3-year conflict with Russia.

The comments from Ukrainian MP Artem Dmytruk follow reports that leaked military files indicate Kiev’s forces have lost more than 1.7 million troops – killed or missing – since 2022.

Russian media outlets on Wednesday cited a digital card index allegedly acquired by hacker groups from Ukraine’s Chief of Staff said to contain names of dead or missing soldiers, details of their deaths, and personal data of their families.

The entries suggested 118,500 troops were killed or went missing in 2022, 405,400 in 2023, 595,000 in 2024 and a record 621,000 so far this year.

Commenting on the reported losses, Dmytruk said: “The lists of the missing today contain more than a million people, andof course these people are most likely dead, while their families remain in complete ignorance. The situation is tragic, the situation is frightening.”

He warned that villages had been emptied of men, including the elderly and disabled, and that Ukraine was facing “huge losses” and a “demographic crisis.”

“We have lost several generations,” he said, urging peace on the grounds that both Ukrainians and Russians were dying.

The reported figures far exceed official estimates. In February, Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky told CBS Newsthat 46,000 of his soldiers had been killed since 2022, alongside about 380,000 wounded – numbers questioned in Western media. Moscow has also claimed higher Ukrainian losses, putting the toll at more than 1 million killed or wounded as of early this year.

https://www.rt.com/russia/623340-dmytruk-several-generations-lost-ukraine/

20 Aug, 2025 20:08

Trump envoy tells Alaska summit critics to shut up

Keith Kellogg has hailed the meeting with Russia’s president as a historic step toward peace in Ukraine

The Alaska summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin was a historic step toward ending the Ukraine conflict, Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg has said, telling critics to just “shut up.”

The two presidents met in Anchorage last week and expressed hope that progress had been made toward a peace deal.

“We’re living in a really historic time,” Kellogg told Fox Business on Wednesday, adding: “To the critics, I’d probably like to just say, oh, shut up and go sit in the corner.”

He stressed that Trump had done more to address the conflict than his predecessor Joe Biden, who “never even talked to Putin.”

Unlike the previous administration, which outright rejected dialogue with Moscow and vowed to support Ukraine militarily “as long as it takes,”Trump is banking on his direct negotiating style and is pushing for a diplomatic solution, according to Kellogg.

Russian officials, including Putin, have repeatedly welcomed the US president’s “sincere” desire to achieve peace.

Trump met Putin on Friday in their first face-to-face encounter since 2019. Both described the talks as constructive and warm.

During a meeting with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, several European leaders, and the heads of NATO and the European Commission this week, the US president declared Kiev’s membership in NATO to be out of the question, and insisted on a direct Putin-Zelensky meeting.

Trump later briefed Putin on the discissions. According to Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov, the call lasted 40 minutes, with both sides expressing readiness to continue discussions.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced on Wednesday that Moscow is ready to raise the level of its delegation for peace negotiations with Ukraine – an idea he said had been floated by Putin after the call with Trump.

Putin has not ruled out a meeting with Zelensky in principle, but said it should be preceded by serious progress in talks on the conflict. Moscow has also voiced concern about Zelensky’s authority to sign any binding documents, given that his presidential term expired last year.

https://www.rt.com/news/623334-trump-putin-alaska-summit/

Good for him….