From blockchain to photos, a look at America’s struggle to track aid to Ukraine

The cable comes as Republicans increasingly demand more control over the money and weapons flowing to Ukraine. It also comes as Russia steps up its attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, making it even more difficult to account for what has already flowed in of the more than $50 billion the US has committed to Ukraine.

The cable, signed by US Ambassador Bridget Brink, is a snapshot in time. But it underlines how crises like the Ukraine war – like the US’s experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq – inevitably turn into enormously expensive undertakings that are difficult to track precisely because of the chaos on the ground, often in countries with a history of corruption.

“Above all, kinetic activity and active combat between Ukrainian and Russian forces creates an environment where standard verification measures are sometimes impractical or impossible,” the nine-page cable said.

The State Department declined to comment directly on the cable, but a spokesperson said in a statement: “The United States takes very seriously our responsibility to ensure appropriate oversight of all U.S. assistance.”

US government agencies have existing mechanisms aimed at preventing misuse of funding, including inspectors general tasked with conducting audits and investigations. The inspectors general from the State Department, the Pentagon and the US Agency for International Development have formed a Ukraine-focused task force to help coordinate their work.

They are also trying to coordinate their efforts with European allies who contribute billions to the fight.

But there are demands for further supervision of Ukraine. Some of these demands have come from the far right wing of the Republican Party, although support for the general idea appears to be broader.

This month, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who has insisted on limiting aid to Ukraine, got a significant number of more mainstream Republicans to support a bill calling for a complete overhaul of U.S. aid to Ukraine, even though Democrats blocked it in committee.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who is seeking to become speaker of the House in January, has also said in recent months that there will be no “blank check” for Ukraine.

Democrats have warned against such public claims, saying it is important to send Russia a signal of American unity when it comes to support for Ukraine. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, has also warned in recent days that alarmism about the possible misuse of Ukraine’s aid feeds into Moscow’s propaganda.

The State Department cable shows the Biden administration trying to get ahead of the issue. Specific departments, agencies and programs are already adjusting their methods of monitoring U.S. aid as the environment in Ukraine fluctuates, according to the cable. The approaches rely heavily on local Ukrainian staff, some still in the country but many working remotely – largely coordinated by a senior embassy official. Technology is expected to play an even bigger role than before, the cable indicates.

Among the examples:

• Apps: The State Department’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, whose mission includes trying to strengthen fragile states, has a public-private partnership project to track assistance using “a commercial smartphone app that uploads all photo and video media to a blockchain at the point of capture,” according to the cable. “The app will provide reliable, tangible evidence that assistance is reaching intended beneficiaries, even in places that are too dangerous or difficult for program implementation staff to reach.”
• Ukrainian troops: The Department of Defense has planned to pursue an alternative to having US-trained inspectors on the ground relying on the Ukrainian Armed Forces to “conduct their own inspections” to satisfy some of the more stringent end-use monitoring requirements of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. Those requirements include verification of serial numbers for items such as Switchblade drones and night vision devices, the cable said.
• Documentation help: The U.S. Agency for International Development, which has extensive experience in conflict situations, sometimes requires photo documentation of goods received by recipients, “especially in hard-to-reach areas,” according to the cable. USAID also uses third-party monitoring from Deloitte, the management consulting firm, to “review, identify gaps.” The US often relies on firms like Deloitte to help its work overseas, including in conflict zones.

Regardless of the amount of planning, some Democrats have argued for special oversight for Ukraine in the long term. And they point to the United States’ experience in establishing special inspectors general for Iraq and Afghanistan. These bodies were created when it became clear that dedicated teams of investigators with special resources were needed to monitor the huge amounts of money flowing into those countries whose institutions were severely stressed or broken.

Rep. Sarah Jacobs (D-Calif.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, was an early proponent of establishing a dedicated inspector general for the Ukraine conflict. She sees it as an opportunity to rethink how the US conducts “end-use monitoring”, the legal requirement to track the weapons and other security assistance America provides to allies.

“The end-use surveillance regime we have in place, in general, was designed to make sure the Soviet Union didn’t steal our trade secrets, which is not the same as making sure our weapons don’t get used to things we don’t. intends for them to get used to, Jacobs said in an interview.

But she acknowledged that the nature of the battlefield in Ukraine makes full-scale surveillance particularly difficult. “We couldn’t do it now,” she said. “We don’t have enough mobility in the country to really be able to do that.”

The Defense Department’s inspector general’s office also said the conflict presents unique oversight challenges, particularly in determining exactly where weapons sent to the Ukrainian armed forces go if they are not immediately used in combat.

Megan Reed, a spokeswoman for the department, emphasized that the end-use monitoring system was not designed for a war zone. “End-use surveillance was designed for peacetime,” she said. “End-use monitoring is very complex right now.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. plans to establish a program called “Monitoring, Evaluation and Audit Services for Ukraine Reporting,” or MEASURE, to help with oversight efforts. That includes a three-year contract “with a US firm to establish a presence in the country to conduct remote and in-person surveillance with on-site visits as possible,” according to the cable.

Asked for details on the MEASURE plan’s status, a State Department spokesperson said in an email: “The program is currently being procured and we expect an award to be made in February.”

The three-year time frame of the contract suggests that even if the war ends soon, U.S. officials expect to continue sending aid to Ukraine well beyond that, especially given Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure. However, the September cable says the embassy hopes to have all aspects of its surveillance strategy in place within six months – by March. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on this timeline.

The cable notes that some embassy facilities and work areas were rebuilt, and says that is one reason why some staff still in the country have often been unable to enter the building, which is also operating at a reduced capacity due to wartime conditions.

When asked why such a rebuild was necessary, the department’s spokesperson nodded to safety. “It is standard operating procedure during a drawdown to minimize our footprint and reduce the amount of sensitive material remaining,” the spokesperson said. “Embassy Kiev’s withdrawal was conducted in accordance with this standard operating procedure.”

The spokesman spoke on condition of anonymity because the topic concerned sensitive diplomatic matters.

When asked whether the oversight challenges have become steeper since the cable was published, the spokesperson would not say either way. “The US Embassy remains open and remains fully engaged in overseeing US aid, despite Russia’s relentless attacks,” the spokesperson said in the email.

The fluid situation could cause Ukraine to fall back on the progress it has made in the fight against corruption in recent years, the cable warns, adding that the US should continue to support anti-corruption programs in the country.

“This will also help us promote a critical [U.S. government] the goal, Ukraine’s accession to the EU, which is conditional on robust, transparent and effective judicial and anti-corruption systems and laws,” the cable says.

The Russian government, itself no stranger to corruption, has often used allegations of financial and related abuses as a way to demonize the Ukrainian leadership, making the topic a sensitive one for Americans.

“We know that the Russians are trying to cast doubt on our aid to Ukraine by pushing these stories about the misuse of weapons,” Jacobs said. “All the indications I’ve seen are actually that there has been no misuse of weapons. But is that a valid concern on our part that we’re spending taxpayer dollars and we’re giving weapons to a place that, prior to this conflict, had been one of the distributors of small arms in Europe ? Yes.”

The cable emphasizes that “every section and agency of the embassy in Kyiv is affected” by the unsafe ground conditions and staffing shortages in monitoring aid. That is especially the case in “active conflict areas and places under temporary occupation.”

“Even with the conflict, some partner staff and beneficiaries have continued to operate in these areas and provide input, particularly related to human rights abuses,” the cable said. “Embassy Kyiv’s local staff have performed heroically, enabling the mission to deliver and monitor assistance that would otherwise have been impossible.”