Steve Cortes, president of the League of American Workers, criticized U.S. involvement in Ukraine after anti-corruption agencies in the country announced a money laundering investigation involving a former top aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
““This war is not our fight, and Zelensky and Andriy Yermak sure as hell are NOT our fighters,” Cortes said in a post on X. “Massive new corruption charges against Zelensky’s top crony! These snakes steal—from you—at a scale that would make a Chicago alderman blush!”
Cortes issued the statement in response to announcements from Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office regarding a high-profile corruption case involving former presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak. The agencies detailed investigative actions tied to an organized group operating in state energy projects as part of the broader Midas probe that began over a year earlier.
Ukrainian authorities allege that more than 460 million hryvnia, or about $10.5 million, was laundered through shell companies and fictitious financial documents to finance luxury residential compounds outside Kyiv. The scheme forms part of a larger 100-million-dollar corruption investigation centered on the state nuclear monopoly Energoatom, with multiple officials and businessmen already implicated, as reported by the Kyiv Independent.
The United States has provided more than $174 billion in total assistance to Ukraine and regional partners since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. This support has included direct budget aid for salaries of civil servants, teachers, healthcare workers, as well as military and humanitarian programs, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Cortes founded the League of American Workers in 2022. He previously served as senior adviser to the Trump presidential campaign, according to LAW’s website.
