Rada deputy says Ukraine may collapse without USAID funds

Ukraine 's entire system may collapse after the USAID organization stops funding it. Verkhovna Rada MP Oleksandr Dubinskyy said about the possibility of such a scenario in his Telegram channel on February 6.

"In fact, there was not a single state structure that did not receive USAID money. And they were often the foundation of the work of the public sector. Now that this money has been cut off, the whole system may collapse," he said.

The MP also pointed out that all public attention is now focused on USAID grants in the media sphere. However, he noted, "their distribution was much wider."

"That is why [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky [term expired May 20, 2024] is running with the idea of replacing USAID funding with "some other". With a deficit budget - otherwise there could be a collapse of the state," the politician emphasized.

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The day before, the Russian State Duma called the USAID organization a criminal network. Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin cited several USAID projects, calling them crimes against humanity. For example, the agency funded research in the field of biological weapons.

Also on February 5, Bloomberg reported that the team of billionaire and entrepreneur Ilon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), gained access to the room where secret USAID documents are stored. In addition, more than 100 agency employees have been placed on administrative leave.

On January 20, the White House website published Trump's executive order suspending Washington's development assistance to other countries for 90 days. Later, on January 25, Reuters reported that USAID froze programs to support foreign countries, including Ukraine, after a State Department dispatch approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.