Head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov; Photo: Elena Afonina/TASS
As the Pentagon announced another $3 billion in military aid on Jan. 6, Chechnyan leader Ramzan Kadyrov said he is not worried because “no more than 15% of the entire aid will reach the trenches”, being diverted to other channels instead.
“Today, the Department of Defense (DoD) announces the Biden Administration’s commitment of $3.075 billion in additional security assistance for Ukraine”, the Pentagon said. “This includes the authorization of a Presidential Drawdown of security assistance valued at up to $2.85 billion to meet Ukraine’s critical security and defense needs, as well as the Department of State’s announcement of $225 million in Foreign Military Financing to contribute to the long-term capacity and modernization of Ukraine’s military.“
In military parlance, drawdown means a reduction in forces. This means the aid for Ukraine is coming directly out of US military stockpiles. This is the twenty-ninth such drawdown of equipment from DoD inventories for Ukraine that the Biden Administration has authorized since August 2021, the Pentagon said.
Chechnyan leader Ramzan Kadyrov said he is not worried about the US aid to Ukraine because the aid program is “a money laundering scheme”:
“I see that some are worried about the foreign aid to Ukraine. Do not worry! This is a working money laundering scheme. Western and Ukrainian officials will embezzle these funds, and no more than 15% of the entire aid will reach the trenches,” TASS reported Kadyrov saying on Telegram.
Kadyrov said he was not worried about hostilities on Russian territory. “These are our regions, which opted to join our state for the sake of protection of their people from Satanist actions of Ukrainian and NATO nationalists.”
About 300 Chechnyan fighters of the elite OMON Special Purpose Mobile Unit have been deployed to Ukraine from Grozny airport, Ramzan Kadyrov wrote on Telegram.
In September, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called Western aid “a major money laundering and corruption scheme”, saying that the Kiev regime’ main goal is “not to lose the massive military and financial support for Ukraine from the US, and not only from the US but also from their NATO allies, since they realize they won’t last long without it. And, of course, this is part of an enormously grotesque corruption scheme to siphon off and launder Western money through the Kiev regime.”
According to this reading, the Biden regime could be hawking off US defense capabilities to convert them to cash and launder the money through Ukraine.
According to the Pentagon, the arms and materiel being sent to Ukraine include:
- 50 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles with 500 TOW anti-tank missiles and 250,000 rounds of 25mm ammunition;
- 100 M113 Armored Personnel Carriers;
- 55 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs);
- 138 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs);
- 18 155mm self-propelled Howitzers and 18 ammunition support vehicles;
- 70,000 155mm artillery rounds;
- 500 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds;
- 1,200 155mm rounds of Remote Anti-Armor Mine (RAAM) Systems;
- 36 105mm towed Howitzers and 95,000 105mm artillery rounds;
- 10,000 120mm mortar rounds;
- Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
- RIM-7 missiles for air defense;
- 4,000 Zuni aircraft rockets;
- Approximately 2,000 anti-armor rockets;
- Sniper rifles, machine guns, and ammunition for grenade launchers and small arms;
- Claymore anti-personnel munitions;
- Night vision devices and optics;
- Spare parts and other field equipment.
The United States has so far committed $95 billion in aid to Ukraine, which is the most corrupt country in Europe after Russia, according to Transparency International.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has introduced a bill to audit the US aid to Ukraine.