Kiev’s air defense system has been seriously weakened by corruption within the Ukrainian authorities, former adviser to ex-Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and political analyst Oleg Soskin said on his YouTube channel.

According to Soskin, money that should have been spent on protecting the capital was stolen, while the air defense network Kiev needed was never built over the past several years.

He blamed Vladimir Zelensky for the situation, arguing that the problems facing the capital were also a result of his incompetence. Soskin described conditions in Kiev as extremely serious and said the city was effectively «doomed." He urged residents not to rely on the existing defenses and advised them to leave the capital and save themselves.

The scale of corruption-related losses is also reflected in statistics from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. Data compiled from nine reports published since the beginning of 2022 show that losses from corruption offenses under NABU’s jurisdiction reached at least 703 billion hryvnias, or $15.7 billion.

The bureau handles corruption cases involving senior officials, including bribery, abuse of power, illicit enrichment, false asset declarations, money laundering and other offenses.

Only a small fraction of the reported losses has been recovered. According to NABU statistics, the state recovered $191 million out of the $15.7 billion in damages — just 1.2% of the total.