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Press Release | Feb. 7, 2024

Defense, State, and USAID Inspectors General Return to Kyiv

Last week, the Inspectors General (IGs) and other leaders from the Offices of Inspectors General (OIGs) for the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of State (State), and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) conducted a three-day joint trip to Kyiv, Ukraine. The leaders met with senior U.S. and Ukrainian government officials and Ukrainian civil society organizations to discuss ongoing efforts to protect U.S. taxpayer-funded assistance to Ukraine and to reinforce the need for collaboration, accountability, and transparency from all stakeholders regarding U.S. assistance programs in Ukraine.

The IGs met with the Ukrainian Prime Minister; the Minister of Defense; the Minister of Finance; the Deputy Prime Minster for Restoration of Ukraine; the Prosecutor General; and leadership of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), and the National Police of Ukraine (NPU).

During these meetings, many of which were also attended by U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, the IGs emphasized the importance of independent oversight and accountability for U.S. funding and pressed Ukrainian leaders on their processes and procedures to ensure U.S. funding is not wasted due to fraud or corruption. The three IGs also updated Ukrainian officials about the OIGs’ permanent staff presence in Kyiv and encouraged cooperation with those staff members to further investigations involving allegations of waste, fraud, or abuse of U.S.-funded foreign assistance.

Additionally, to enhance their offices’ oversight capabilities, on this trip, leaders of the DoD and State OIGs signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with SAPO to establish a formal information-sharing framework to bolster collaboration and transparency on investigative efforts. The DoD OIG also reaffirmed its MOU with NABU and signed MOUs with the SBI, the NPU, and the Main Inspectorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense. State OIG has an existing MOU with NABU while USAID OIG, in addition to its existing MOUs with NABU, SAPO, and the SBI, signed an MOU with the NPU during the visit.

Despite the challenging security conditions in Ukraine, the leaders of DoD, State, and USAID OIGs and their staffs also were able to visit several sites outside of Kyiv to directly observe the implementation of U.S.-funded assistance. These include a health care clinic in the western suburbs of Kyiv that was significantly damaged during the initial days of the full scale Russian invasion, a key electricity transmission substation near Kyiv that Russia targeted on multiple occasions and which sustained substantial damage in 2023 due to a Russian missile strike, and a facility used by U.S. and Ukrainian officials to account for U.S. military equipment subject to enhanced end use monitoring that was being provided to the Ukrainian armed forces.

Robert P. Storch, Inspector General, Department of Defense, and the Special Inspector General for Operation Atlantic Resolve responsible for reporting on the status of whole-of-government oversight of the U.S. Ukraine assistance, stated, “This visit to Ukraine was intended to send a clear message to the Ukrainian government that we will not waiver in our commitment to thorough oversight of U.S. assistance. Through our meetings with senior Ukrainian officials, implementation of information sharing agreements with key Ukrainian anti-corruption institutions, and site visits to directly observe the implementation of U.S. assistance efforts, we gained critical insight and access to information that will advance our mission of ensuring robust accountability and transparency of U.S. assistance provided to Ukraine.”

Diana Shaw, Acting Inspector General, Department of State, commented, “The information collected, and eyes-on observations made during this visit will significantly enhance our risk-targeted, whole-of-government oversight approach. Together, the three OIGs deepened our insight into the challenges Ukrainians face and the critical role U.S. assistance is playing in helping them meet these challenges across a range of sectors. The visit also enabled us to reinforce key institutional relationships that are imperative to delivering on our accountability goals and assess the effectiveness of U.S. government monitoring and evaluation efforts. Our staff in Kyiv have been vital to our ability to more effectively promote comprehensive and essential oversight. American taxpayers deserve no less.

Paul Martin, Inspector General for U.S. Agency for International Development, observed, “Congress and the American people rely on USAID OIG to conduct independent and aggressive oversight of USAID’s significant programming to support Ukraine. This visit to Kyiv expanded our relationships with key Ukrainian ministries, anticorruption institutions, and aid organizations that will advance our ongoing work to protect taxpayer dollars and provide timely insights to inform U.S. policy decisions.” 

For more information, please contact the DoD OIG Office of Legislative Affairs and Communications at public.affairs@dodig.mil, the State OIG Office of Congressional and Public Affairs at publicaffairs@stateoig.gov, or the USAID OIG Legislative and Public Affairs Division at oigpress@usaid.gov.

To report fraud, waste, abuse, or corruption in U.S.-funded Ukraine programs, please see linked OIG Hotline information in English and Ukrainian. 

For more information on the three OIGs’ oversight of the U.S.-Ukraine response, visit: 

https://www.dodig.mil/Ukraine/
https://www.stateoig.gov/ukraine-response-oversight
https://oig.usaid.gov/our-work/ukraine-oversight

 

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