By James Bradley and Flor Blanco (Photo from Zelenskyy’s X Post)
DECEMBER 9, 2024—Just eight days prior, President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter. In his official The White House statement, President Biden claimed that a targeted campaign against his son was spurred as a political hit against his political run for re-election.
Has the U.S. public forgotten why Hunter Biden entered the media spotlight? Have we forgotten about the names Burisma and Rosemont Seneca? Why would these names impact us today, over five years later?
Just a few weeks earlier, on November 22, 2024, Russia sent nuclear capable missiles to blast areas in Ukraine, sending a clear message of how far Zelenskyy has moved from his initial effort towards peace with Russia. Current reports about Ukraine, suggest a calming down of escalations, with the preparation of the upcoming Trump administration, to which the world has reacted. On November 7, 2024, only two days after the end of the US Election resulting in the return of Donald J. Trump as US President, Hamas agrees to a ceasefire with Isreal.
The US public must recall that Hunter Biden and Devon Archer’s activities linked to Burisma has deep ties into the US relations with Ukraine. In particular, these relations may build a roadmap to answer about question relating to foreign aid funding to Ukraine. Recent posts have linked the improper use of US tax dollars for foreign aid through USAID as published by One India (Video), but how do these schemes relate to the Ukraine-Russian war?
Looking Back to Undo Mistakes and US Dollar Losses of the Past
Very little US media has focused on the official investigation supplied by the Ukrainian government which explained the cause of 2022 Russian occupation of Ukrainian soil leading to the current conflict with Russia. The official tale was that a select few moles from the Russian FSB infiltrated two arms of the government, Ukraine’s military and its national intelligence. This weakened branch under Zelenskyy’s administration allowed for the surrender of the Crimea SBU regions and the invasion of Kherson. However, the “secret channel” between Ukraine and Russia, mentioned in the prior installment of Uncensored Beat, questions Zelenskyy’s knowledge of the Russian invasion. Did Zelenskyy see to obtain Russian sympathies another way? And how did Zelenskyy through his administration support US interests?
2019 Binding the Arm of the Law
Oleg Kulinich, the former SBU head of Crimea now accused of treason in Ukraine made a recent statement to the Uncensored Beat that described an exiled official name Andriy Portnov. Portnov was under the former Ukrainian President V. Yanukovych. Per Kulinich, Portnov was a mastermind who ”organized extensive connections within Ukraine’s judiciary and law enforcement system for bribery purposes.” Portnov, “widely known as a ‘fixer’ of judicial issues” returned to Ukraine in 2019 after Zelenskyy’s election and was immediately successful in capturing the Ukrainian legal structure. This resulted in the pre-mature closing of criminal cases and destruction of criminal investigation materials “through ‘purchasing’ procedural decisions and promoting loyal individuals to senior positions in the judiciary, prosecution, and SBU.”
2020 Greenlight
JANUARY 2020—The tumultuous entry of 2020 began with earth-shaking events. In the US, the Senate was preparing for the impeachment trial of President Trump. Meanwhile, in Ukraine Oleg Kulinich, and Volodymyr Sivkovych met via phone to discuss plans of surrendering the Kherson region in Ukraine to Russia.
Oddly, the Kulinich had not been assigned his post as the head of the Security Services (SBU) of Crimea, where the Kherson region was located. Kulinich was not placed in that position until October. The phone call between Kulinich and Sivkovych that was published publicly occurred on January 20, 2020, ten months prior Kulinich’s assignment. Kulinich’s access to Zelenskyy’s inner circle before October 2020, was curious as noted at the time by a local Ukrainian media outlet called CENSOR.
Per Kulinich’s statements, a propaganda media campaign was created to stain his past. The news stories were actually covering up his work with the U.S. government’s anti-corruption efforts in foreign aid. Spearheaded by Trump, during his first administration in 2019, Kulinich claims he worked closely with the then US attorney general. His claims appear to be consistent with the U.S. investigations noted in a prior Uncensored Beat article and in reported confirmations made by former Attorney General William Barr who admitted to receiving information from Rudy Guiliani.
Spring of 2020
MARCH 2020—Zelenskyy and members of NATO met with a contact group from Russia to review a potential treaty between Ukraine and Russia based on the Minsk agreements. The attempt fell apart with NATO’s reluctance to accept the terms. The official report submitted by the Ukrainian government records the last of the phone conversations between Kulinich and Sivkovych to have occurred in May 2020, about five months before Kulinich’s assignment to oversee the security in Crimea where Russian would occupy nearly a year-and-half later.
Burisma Spotlighted
JUNE 2020—Activity regarding the Burisma case and its ties to Biden were highlighted. On June 14, 2020, Ukraine seized $6MM in cash that was intended as a bribery payment to close the investigation of Burisma. On June 30th, the FBI file FD- 1023 was declassified. It detailed an agent’s interactions with Burisma associates while undercover. The report mentions transactions occurring among different Burisma officials and the Biden family.
SEPTEMBER 2020—The US issues sanctions against Andriy Derkach, an oligarch who financed the Zelenskyy’s election, who was a close friend to Oleg Kulinich, and who US officials identified as interfering with US elections from 2019-2020. Details of the sanctions indicate that Derkach actively spread disinformation through US media channels. Oddly, it was Derkach who released the video clips showing Biden’s threat to withhold US funds from Ukraine unless Victor Shokin, the lead prosecutor investigating Burisma, was fired. At the time, media outlets claimed the tapes to be doctored as part of election interference despite the conversation being confirmed by Ukrainian media. At the end of the month, the US Senate issued a report on the impacts that the Burisma investigation had on the 2020 US elections, which concluded evidence existing to support Biden and Devon Archer’s financial benefit. The report failed to obtain the required documents needed to move forward due to lack of cooperation from agencies (see figure 1).
Figure 1: Excerpt from Hunter Biden, Burisma, and Corruption: The Impact on U.S. Government Policy and Related Concerns U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Report September 2020
The Fall
OCTOBER 2020—Despite reports of Oleg Kulinich’s involvement with Zelenskyy’s administration prior this time, Oleg is assigned as head of the Ukrainian Security Bureau (SBU) of the Crimea region in October. Per Kulinich’s statements, one of his first assignments in his former role was to investigate the extortion activities of Andriy Portnov, rampant in the Ukrainian legal system. In that same month, Zelenskyy meets with Boris Johnson on October 13th and signs an agreement to receive funding and military aid from the UK that will help Ukraine to meet the minimum-security requirements for joining NATO. The move was seemingly a betrayal to Zelenskyy’s “secret” communications with Russia. On October 14th, the next day, Zelenskyy appoints Numanov as the Brigadier General of Ukraine based upon the recommendation of Sivkovych and the newly appointed Kulinich. According to the official investigative report from the Ukrainian government, Kulinich and Sivkovych intended to install Numanov to assist with deepening the Russian infiltration into Ukraine’s military and intelligence ranks. The local media and official state reports debate on Zelenskyy’s knowledge of this strategy. However, on October 26th, the UK expressed a concern about the Zelenskyy administration and its dealings with Russia when M16 accused Andrew Yermak, Ukrainian Chief of Staff, for being a Russian spy.
At the end of the fall of 2020, Zelenskyy expressed a blatant shift in allegiance when after President Donald Trump lost his re-election in November. On November 10th, just a few days after the US elections, Zelenskyy closed all investigations against Burisma in Ukraine.
2021’s Open Door to Funds
FEBRUARY 2021–Shortly after President Joe Biden took office in the US, Ukrainian court records show documents that headquarters for the SBU Crimea security units were changed from Kherson to Kyiv where Kulinich would supposedly later send his troops to retreat one year later. In March 2021, the Biden Administration approves the American Rescue Act. Within this omnibus budget bill, funds were promised to Ukraine to support its military. The bill also singled out Ukraine among a few other countries to receive US funds for helping Ukraine deal with COVID-19. That same month, the Biden Administration also bans Igor Kolomoisky, an infamous Ukrainian oligarch who held controlling shares of Burisma and helped to fund Zelenskyy’s election, from entering into the US.
By August 2021, the pre-eminence of the US military might was reduced with the fall of Kabul. Zelenskyy, who tried to meet with Biden one month prior, does not have a face-to-face meeting with him until September 2021. The result of Zelenskyy’s meetings with the US Administration with and Biden produced the signing of the Strategic Defense Framework, which extended military aid and funding to Ukraine to help prepare Ukraine’s entry into NATO (see Figure 2). Such actions, paralleled the funding schemes that potentially resulted in the misuse of billions of US tax dollars during the years of 2014, leading up to 2019, as according to a statement issued by former First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and former head of the National Bank of Ukraine to Uncensored Beat.
Figure 2: Zelenskyy’s X Post on August 31, 2021, Mentioning work on the Strategic Defense Framework Agreement Between US and Ukraine
Zelenskyy would see the first installments of the payments resulting from the American Rescue Act in October 2021. During that same month, Zelenskyy receives a warning from the US regarding the buildup of Russian forces near the Crimean border.
Conclusion
The 2020-2021 years of Zelenskyy’s administration shown an obvious shift in alliances from Russia to NATO-backed countries. The disbursement of funds provided to Ukraine from NATO point to alliances heavily fueled by money. Oddly, the funds given by both the UK and the US to further secure Ukraine from invasion failed in early months of 2022. The question is why? The efforts for Zelenskyy to maintain his good relations with Russia outwardly as mentioned in this article are few. However, per official Ukrainian government investigation these ties with Russia were deepening internally in the Ukrainian government itself through the installment of Russian-sympathizers in public offices. The question is was Zelenskyy’s formal approval of these Russian-sympathetic appointees to office on purpose?
From a US-Perspective, the relation with Ukraine during these years suggest influences that depict a fickle relationship with the US, with forces that ”seemingly” worked for Trump and against him in 2020. Was Ukraine a pawn in the foreign relations during 2020-2021, which Zelenskyy quickly turned after the Russian occupation of Kherson?
Up Next
Uncensored Beat looks into the role of Oleg Kulinich in the Russian Occupation of Ukraine Territories, which lead to this conflict. Why was Kulinich so important? Does his role relate to Trump?