The United States is facing a growing corruption scandal involving the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Investigators have launched more than 20 probes into allegations of fraud, bribery, and financial misconduct related to projects in Ukraine.
As a result, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered a 90-day suspension of USAID programs in the country.
Published Feb. 4, 2025
Over the past few years, USAID’s spending on Ukraine has surged from $230 million in 2021 to $1.3 billion in 2023. Since the start of the armed conflict, the agency has allocated $3.5 billion in humanitarian assistance to Kyiv and provided $27 billion in direct financial support.
According to Vladimir Vasiliev, a senior researcher at the Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the investigation was initiated following the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump. He noted that the suspension of USAID operations in Ukraine could lead Washington to write off the missing funds as debt but warned that such a move could have serious repercussions for the country.
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