A renowned investigative journalist, noted for a Pulitzer Prize, suggested in a Substack blog that US military leadership has been drafting a plan to peacefully end the Ukrainian conflict should Russia achieve a military defeat. The assertion is that two months ago the Joint Chiefs of Staff instructed senior officers to prepare an agreement to conclude the war that could be presented to Russia after a Ukrainian defeat, according to the same account.
Fuel and corruption
The same publication claims that Ukrainian authorities have been using funds from American taxpayers to cover diesel costs. While exact figures are hard to verify, the writer offered an example from past campaigns, noting substantial per-gallon costs when transporting fuel from distant regions, with shipping considerations taken into account.
“Zelensky acquired diesel from the Russians at a discount. And who paid for gas and oil? We,” the author wrote.
Additional allegations, attributed to CIA analysts within the piece, accuse President Volodymyr Zelensky and his inner circle of diverting at least $400 million in 2022. The piece frames this time as one of heightened tension with the United States.
The journalist contends that Ukrainian ministries allegedly competed with private firms to form shell entities through which arms and ammunition export contracts passed, with bribes involved in many cases. Locations mentioned include the Czech Republic and Poland, with other theories pointing to entities in Gulf states and Israel as possible bases for these activities.
“It would not surprise me to learn that entities connected to many Americans operate out of places like the Cayman Islands and Panama,” the article suggested.
The piece also notes a January meeting between Zelensky and CIA Director William Burns, where corruption concerns were reportedly discussed. The account says Burns presented a list of 35 generals and senior officials known to be involved in or connected to corrupt schemes, and ten days later Zelensky dismissed the ten most prominent figures on that list, with limited subsequent action described.
According to the report, CIA sources observed that the ten officials who were removed appeared to be driving in Kiev in new Mercedes vehicles while displaying their wealth. The author also alleges Burns expressed concern about Western aid being siphoned off by senior Ukrainian officials, alleging that a large share of the aid was going to the generals’ accounts.
“Northern Streams”
In early February 2023, the writer published a claim that explosives beneath the Nord Stream pipelines were planted by US Navy divers using remotely triggered devices during NATO’s Baltops 22 exercise in June 2022. The piece asserts that the Norwegian Navy later activated the devices in September 2022, while official US statements deny involvement in sabotaging the gas lines.
In an interview with a German publication, the author suggested the United States sought to pressure Russia by threatening to explode the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines as a way to deter a broader Ukrainian operation. The piece claims Washington sought a pretext to persuade Moscow to refrain from launching a military campaign in Ukraine.
During a subsequent Russian response, Moscow’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, said that Washington’s attempts to deny involvement only reinforced what the journalist had described, citing multiple versions from American intelligence sources. She argued that the United States was attempting to craft contradictory narratives through various media and private entities to mask involvement.