Part II: Billions in, billions out

Ukraine is still the second poorest country in Europe in wealth per capita, so where does U.S. aid go?

By Tatiana Prophet

From a large American think tank to scads of non-governmental organizations to the American embassy in Kyiv, the “concern trolls” have been working overtime in Ukraine. Time and again, when you look at the last two decades, these always well-meaning outsiders have been laying out action plans and guiding principles for Ukrainians to end corruption and enact “market reforms” – and yet, money is still being laundered, oligarchs have continued living abroad to avoid prosecution, and almost half of Ukrainian citizens admitted in 2017 to giving petty bribes to doctors and universities, often for convenience.