US has spent billions on Ukraine war aid. But is that money landing in corrupt pockets?

WASHINGTON – With more than $100 billion in U.S. weaponry and financial aid flowing to Ukraine in less than a year — and more on the way to counter Russia's invasion — concerns about arms falling into terrorists' hands and dollars into corrupt officials' pockets are mounting.

The special inspector general who has overseen aid to Afghanistan since 2012, and some House Republicans, warn of the need for closer oversight of the military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The scale of the effort is massive. The $113 billion appropriated by Congress in 2022 approaches the $146 billion spent in 20 years for military and humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, though the cost of sending U.S. troops there was far higher.

"When you spend so much money so quickly, with so little oversight, you're going to have fraud, waste and abuse," John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, said in an interview. "Massive amounts."