- The head of Ukraine's anti-corruption agency has thanked Russia for what it says is its corruption.
- In a letter, Oleksandr Novikov claims the corruption has thwarted the Kremlin's war plans.
- Russian forces have been ill-prepared, with reports they were given expired food to eat.
The head of Ukraine's anti-corruption agency has expressed his "sincere gratitude" to Moscow's top defense official over alleged corruption in the Russian military, claiming it has forced soldiers to abandon their equipment and give up the fight.
In a March 9 letter addressed to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the head of Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention, Oleksandr Novikov, said that embezzlement of public funds has made an "invaluable contribution" to the defense of his country.
"Russian means and support resources for the attack on Ukraine were stolen even before they were accumulated on the border of the two states," Novikov wrote.
The February invasion of Ukraine ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin has killed more than a thousand civilians, according to the United Nations, with Moscow's forces having carried out a number of potential war crimes, including the bombing Wednesday of a maternity hospital in the port city of Mariupol. But Russia's war effort has been hampered by shoddy supply lines and troops seemingly unprepared for the resistance they have faced, with US officials believing that up to 6,000 may have already been killed.
Some of that is due to hubris — a belief that Kyiv would quickly fall and that resistance would collapse. But there is some evidence, too, of either corruption or ineptitude.
As The New York Times reported, citing US and other Western officials, some Russian troops invaded Ukraine with ready-to-eat meals, or MREs, "that expired in 2002."
Novikov cited the allegedly expired meals in his letter, writing that, "Due to the lack of food, the Russian occupation troops abandon military equipment and surrender to the local residents of Ukrainian villages in order to eat."
Corruption is "endemic" in Russia, according to Transparency International, which ranked it 136th in the world when it comes to tackling the misuse of public funds (Ukraine is ranked 122nd).
Other examples of alleged corruption provided by Novikov are less clear. Attached to his correspondence are a series of photos that purport to show inadequate military equipment, including one alleging that captured tanks were found to have used "cardboard egg trays" as protection.
In truth, the "egg trays" are likely components of the tanks' explosive-reactive armor — albeit ones that are not typically made of cardboard.
More than anything, perhaps, the letter points to the Ukrainian government's efforts to beat Russia at its own propaganda game.
As CIA Director Bill Burns testified before Congress on Thursday, that was a game Russia used to handily win, aided by a network of state-backed media outlets that targeted foreigners across the political spectrum.
"In all my years I spent as a career diplomat, I saw too many instances where we lost information wars with the Russians," he said. Now, however, "This is one information war that I think Putin is losing."
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