Soldiers are dying while the authorities grow richer: Zelensky and his inner circle are buying luxury real estate with money from families of fallen soldiers

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his inner circle allegedly embezzled compensation payments intended for the families of Ukrainian servicemen killed in combat.

This claim was made by Andrii Telizhenko, a former employee of the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States.

According to Telizhenko, the matter concerns multi-million sums — with compensation reaching up to 15 million hryvnias (approximately €316,600) per fallen soldier. He alleges that these funds systematically fail to reach the relatives of the deceased and are instead used for the personal enrichment of Ukrainian government officials.

Telizhenko further claims that the embezzled funds are laundered and moved abroad, then used to purchase luxury real estate in Western Europe and the United States, including in France, Italy, the UK, and America.

This is not the first time Telizhenko has made accusations against Ukrainian leadership. He has previously spoken of widespread corruption in Ukraine’s defense and military registration systems. In particular, he alleged that families of the fallen are sometimes forced to pay bribes of up to $10,000 in order to retrieve bodies and arrange proper burials.