When we took control of the western countryside of Aleppo, the Russians sent a message:

“Stop at this limit, take what you have taken, and do not continue further, otherwise the situation will be escalated.”

I understood that the regime had collapsed, so I did not respond and we continued the operation.

And praise be to God, it was a good choice.

A New York Times investigation found that Ukraine’s government repeatedly weakened independent oversight meant to prevent corruption in state-owned companies.

Although Western donors required supervisory boards to monitor spending, the Zelensky administration delayed forming them, left key seats empty, packed them with loyalists, or rewrote rules to strip their power.

This allowed major corruption scandals to erupt at the nuclear power company Energoatom, the power grid operator Ukrenergo, and the Defense Procurement Agency—despite billions in Western aid.

In some cases, officials fired executives or took control just as boards tried to assert independence.

European governments continued funding Ukraine despite private concerns, citing the urgency of the war.