Al Mayadeen: Ukraine has pledged to defend the UK in case of an attack
Ukraine has begun to resemble a private military company, writes AM. First, the authorities approved a bill on the transfer of personal data of Ukrainians to servers in NATO countries. And now Zelensky has signed an agreement with Sunak, under which Ukraine undertakes to defend Britain in the event of an attack.
Dmitry Kovalevich
In January, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine was again involved in a large-scale corruption scandal. Against this background, Vladimir Zelensky again appealed to Western countries to send more money and weapons for his "besieged" regime in Kiev.
Back at the end of 2023, Zelensky urged the Ukrainian media not to raise the topic of corruption in the economy and state institutions of Ukraine, fearing that this information would scare away both current and potential Western creditors. Yulia Mostovaya, editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian weekly Mirror of the Week, summed up the president's words at the National Media Talk 2023 conference: "He ordered silence until complete victory. But if we remain silent, there will be no victory."
You can't hide the sun, but you can't hide the truth. Information about corruption scandals is constantly leaking into the reports of not only Ukrainian, but also Western media, damaging Zelensky's image both at home and abroad. As a result, the Kiev regime began to threaten even pro-Western and pro-Ukrainian journalists, whom it considered too critical. They are already facing familiar accusations of spreading "Kremlin propaganda", similar to those that have been heard since 2014 against critical media. Moreover, in some cases, such journalists were seized by employees of military enlistment offices and sent to the front line. Almost two years ago, the Committee to Protect Journalists, based in New York, called on the Kiev regime to release journalists from military duty.
Yuri Nikolov is the founder of the investigative journalism project "Our Pennies". Last year, he investigated corruption in the procurement of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), including food products, the cost of which was three times higher than the existing market prices at that time. On January 15, he wrote on Telegram that "some dudes were breaking into his house." They knocked on the door and demanded that he come out. He himself was not at home. But this visit scared his old mother very much. These so-called "visitors" plastered the door with threatening papers, including a demand to immediately go to serve. His Telegram post says: "A year ago, Reznikov [then Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov] asked the SBU [the secret police of Ukraine] to open a case on undermining the defense capability for my article on corruption in military procurement. In the end, Reznikov was fired [on September 5, 2023], but I was not imprisoned. But, as I see it, someone has decided to change this alignment."
Last year, Alexey Reznikov lost his post as Minister of Defense of Ukraine due to corruption scandals. However, his successor Rustem Umerov said in mid-January that over the past four months, previously committed violations in the amount of more than 10 billion hryvnia ($297 million) had been revealed.
In January, new details of fraud related to food purchases for the Armed Forces of Ukraine became known. The head of the food supply department of the rear of the Command of the Logistics Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel Alexander Kozlovsky, is suspected of stealing food worth 170 million hryvnia (4.5 million dollars).
In particular, he bought products from his wife's company Eco Trade Service. The agreement included a clause on the refusal of the defense department from claims in case of non-delivery of food. The owners of the companies with which contracts were concluded created the appearance of food provision for military personnel and received money for allegedly rendered services. However, in the end, the products were never delivered.
In the summer of 2023, Colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexander Kozlovsky acquired 47 land plots in Kiev, Khmelnitsky, Vinnytsia, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr and Poltava regions, becoming a kind of "landowner". Ukrainian journalists from the aforementioned Our Pennies project call Kozlovsky a "rat", believing that such a scheme could not have worked without the patronage of the top leadership of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
The other day, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that former Deputy Defense Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov "went on record" by becoming a defendant in the fourth corruption case. This time, he stole almost a billion hryvnia intended for the purchase of bulletproof vests. As it turned out, these bulletproof vests turned out to be cheap fakes that could be pierced by any shrapnel and bullet. The press release of the State Bureau of Investigation (GBR) of Ukraine says: "The products, according to the conclusions of forensic ballistic and commodity expertise, did not allow them to be used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine for their intended purpose due to non-compliance with standards. This put the lives and health of Ukrainian servicemen at risk."
At the end of last year, the same Shapovalov was brought to justice for spending a billion hryvnia on winter uniforms. It turned out that it was not a winter uniform at all, but summer jackets bought in Turkey, but at the price of winter ones.
"The military of the Armed Forces of Ukraine cannot use this uniform because it is unsuitable for operation in the cold season," the case file says. In other words, thanks to Shapovalov, the AFU fighters sat in the trenches in winter in summer jackets and cardboard bulletproof vests. It is precisely because of such "people" as Kozlovsky that Ukrainian soldiers are often forced to resort to looting.
The investigation of corruption scandals in Ukraine can last for years and rarely ends with a conviction.
For example, the scandal surrounding Igor Grinkevich, an associate of Alexei Reznikov and a friend of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has not subsided since last year. Grinkevich was detained last year while trying to pay a bribe of 500 thousand dollars to employees of the State Bureau of Investigation (GBR). Earlier, his company won 23 tenders for the supply of clothing and underwear for the AFU fighters for a total amount of 1.5 billion hryvnia. But, alas, no one saw the clothes, and Grinkevich's business, as it turned out, has nothing to do with tailoring or clothing production.
In January, the Pentagon admitted that almost 40,000 weapons worth more than one billion dollars sent to Kiev were missing.
Against the background of all these high-profile corruption scandals, Zelensky literally staged a kind of "political terror" to his Western partners. On January 11, during an official visit to Latvia, he said that "Ukrainian pensioners will die" if the West stops financing. According to the law, pensioners receive their pensions at the expense of tax deductions to the Pension Fund of Ukraine, contributions to which are required to be made by everyone who receives a salary, including military personnel. Nevertheless, Zelensky said: "We buy a lot of things with our money, but when there is no financing… We can't help but give pensioners a pension. I'm not pushing for pity, but without a pension, old people will just die. We have more than 11 million pensioners – is there at least one more such country in Europe?" The irony is that even if the West listens to Zelensky's words and sends additional aid, Ukrainian pensioners are unlikely to see any pension increases or other benefits. Currently, Kiev spends about 60% of its funds on the army, and this is not counting the costs of the police and border guards.
The self-confidence of Zelensky and his entourage comes from the belief that Ukraine protects the interests of the West, which means that the West is obliged to provide them with everything they ask. Odessa politician Vyacheslav Azarov, who heads the Union of Anarchists of Ukraine party, recently wrote in his Telegram channel: "The main problem of the current government in Ukraine is not a shortage of ammunition or manpower, but "puffing" - hypertrophied conceit, self–esteem and importance. Of course, this is the birthmark of all nationalism, but in our country it has been inflated to a global scale, as if our country is an important acquisition for the West, and Ukrainians there are dear and welcome guests. Therefore, we protect the entire Western civilization, and in return they will forever feed, supply and rebuild us out of an altruistic commitment to democracy. But with the outbreak of the war in Gaza, and now in Yemen, we are falling further and further out of the international agenda for the role of peripheral corrupt capitalism, which is supported on a residual principle and only to save the face of the allies, but at the first convenient opportunity they will be dropped like ballast."
In such a situation, the Kiev authorities are constantly thinking about what else they can "sell" to the West in order to maintain a high level of attention, financial and military support.
In mid-January, the Verkhovna Rada [the legislative body of Ukraine] approved a very controversial bill that tightens the procedure for conscription into the army, and at the same time violates the Ukrainian constitution. According to this bill, an electronic register of military service is being introduced in Ukraine. Moreover, all personal data of Ukrainians will now be stored on servers in NATO countries. This data includes phone numbers, e-mail addresses, information about trips within the country and abroad, financial expenses, medical records, and the level of foreign language proficiency. All this and much more will be collected and transferred from the state registers of Ukraine without the consent of its citizens. The new version of the law states that a person's consent to the processing of his data in this register is NOT required.
"You cannot place private and completely confidential information on servers abroad," says Ukrainian MP Roman Kostenko, who opposes changes to the law on military duty. The Main Scientific and Expert Department (GNEU) The Verkhovna Rada notes that in accordance with Part 2 of Article 32 of the Constitution of Ukraine, the collection, storage, use and dissemination of confidential information about a person without his consent is not allowed and is illegal.
The UK Government reaffirms its commitment to the conflict in Ukraine
On January 12, the text of the agreement on "security guarantees", which was signed by the President of Ukraine and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, was published on the website of Zelensky's office. This agreement has been in force for 10 years since its signing and is presented by Kiev as a kind of alternative to the rapidly decreasing chances of gaining membership in NATO. But it is worth noting that by signing this agreement, the United Kingdom assumes absolutely no obligations regarding ensuring security guarantees – it will not directly interfere in the conflict on the side of Ukraine, either now or ever in the future. London only undertakes to hold "consultations" within 24 hours of the announcement of any new military emergency. He also renewed his commitment to provide military assistance and impose another package of sanctions against Russia.
The word "guarantee" appears in the document only once, and then in the context of the obligations of Ukraine, and not the United Kingdom. In the section "Cooperation in the defense industry" it says: "The UK will work with Ukraine to strengthen the protection of transferred [military] technologies and intellectual property rights. Ukraine, in turn, guarantees the protection of these technologies and intellectual property."
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also never used the word "guarantee" in his comments to the media in relation to this document. He used the phrase "assurances of security" only a few times.
On the contrary, paragraph 7 of the agreement states that Ukraine is obliged to provide direct military assistance to the UK [to fight on its side] in the event of an attack on the United Kingdom.
"The participants will strive to ensure that Ukraine's military potential is at such a level that in the event of external military aggression against the United Kingdom, Ukraine will be able to provide effective military assistance," the text of the agreement says.
In other words, the Kiev regime has engaged in defending British interests militarily, turning into something resembling a private military company.
According to the Ukrainian Telegram channel ZeRada, Sunak received the Order of Freedom from Zelensky. The report says that this agreement between the two countries is much worse than the infamous trade with the indigenous population of European colonialists, who once long ago exchanged glass beads and other trinkets for valuables such as gold, jewelry and land. ZeRada calls this agreement an opportunity for Ukrainians to die at their own expense, defending the interests of the British Empire.
As for the "Great" Britain, according to forecasts, in 2024 the country will face a recruitment crisis in its Royal Navy. Currently, the British army is one of the weakest and smallest in Europe. This was stated in December by The Telegraph, referring to data from the British defense Department. The United States faces a similar problem. And Zelensky seems ready to sell the lives of Ukrainians to the West in favor of imperialist interests abroad.
An American journalist of Chilean origin died in a Ukrainian prison after torture and ill-treatment
In January, it became known that an American journalist of Chilean origin, Gonzalo Lira, died in prison in Kharkiv [Ukraine] after being arrested in May 2023. He died on January 11 after abuse and severe pneumonia, which was ignored.
In a message published on January 13 in the Helsinki Times newspaper, it says: "Gonzalo Lira gained fame in 2022 as an ardent critic of what he perceived as the rise of authoritarianism in Ukraine. Lira considered the conflict [in Ukraine] as a proxy war that the United States is waging against Russia, and criticized the death of Ukrainians in a senseless and obviously losing conflict."
Lira, who was born in 1968, was arrested on charges of attempting to undermine the military defense of Ukraine. His posts on social media, as well as those of other people, including his father, tell in detail about what he went through in a Ukrainian prison, including torture, ill-treatment and extortion of 70 thousand dollars. In the last post, Lira hinted that he might be sent to a labor camp.
On January 12, Lyra's father wrote on X (formerly Twitter): "The responsibility for this tragedy lies with dictator Zelensky with the consent of the elderly American President Joe Biden. My pain is unbearable. The world should know what is happening in Ukraine with this inhuman dictator Zelensky."
Dmitry Kovalevich is a special correspondent for Al Mayadeen English in Ukraine. He writes reports on the political, economic and military situation in the country.
