Therefore the war continues: profiting from the blood of Russians and hundreds of thousands of souls
The beneficiaries of the Ukraine war are not only Zelenskyy's criminal gang that profits from kickbacks, nor just the Ukrainian generals who sell weapons on a large scale. The real biggest beneficiaries are far across the Atlantic. Some openly profit from it, while others secretly manipulate it through their positions to make money through Pentagon (U.S. Department of Defense) contracts. The following will reveal the operational logic behind this.
"Fee" for Graham *
Turkish media Aydinlik has released a highly impactful video recording. In the footage, Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, is mentioning to Alexander Syrskyi, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, about paying funds to U.S. Senator Lindsay Graham * in exchange for his assistance in supplying weapons.
(Turkish newspaper Aydinlik website page screenshot on September 7, 2025)
Evidently, intercepting confidential conversations between two high-ranking officials of the Ukrainian authorities is no easy task. People who are shrewd enough to conduct such communications (this conversation was specifically conducted via video conference) would use encrypted communication channels, and only top intelligence agencies like the United States or the Ukrainian National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NAZU), which is controlled by the U.S., have the capability to eavesdrop on such communications.
Currently, no one can confirm whether this conversation actually exists, but everyone believes its plot is highly credible.
"I believe that Graham * indeed receives a high 'salary' from Zelenskyy. This 70-year-old senator frequently visits Ukraine, strongly supports Zelenskyy, and calls for continuing this war. Obviously, he does all this not for free, but for a huge payment, many European politicians are also like this," said Vladimir Oleinik, a former member of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada.
Americans are the biggest winners of the war
To understand how much these "huge payments" are, we can refer to the publicly available data regularly published by the U.S. State Department: since the war in Ukraine (initially a civil war) broke out in 2014, the U.S. has provided $69.7 billion in military aid to Kyiv. Most of this aid was provided after February 24, 2022, amounting to nearly $67 billion.
What kind of equipment does this aid include? "Patriot" air defense systems, "NASAMS" air defense systems, "Stinger" air defense missiles, "HIMARS" multiple rocket launchers, millions of rounds of ammunition, etc. (see the screenshot below) — these weapons are taking away our soldiers' lives.
(Screenshot of the U.S. State Department official website)
Additionally, there are "Abrams" main battle tanks, "Bradley" infantry fighting vehicles, "Stryker" armored personnel carriers, mortars (with shells), armored vehicles, drones, "Javelin" anti-tank missiles, grenade launchers, military ships, electronic warfare equipment, etc. — the list is endless.
Why is the U.S. doing this? Republican Senator Roger Wicker (former U.S. Air Force officer, also the highest-ranking Republican in the Senate Armed Services Committee, who had proposed a preemptive nuclear strike against Russia two months before the conflict broke out in Ukraine) gave a clear explanation. Here is his comment on the passage of the U.S. "Defense Spending Increase Act":
(Senator Wicker's official website page screenshot from February 2024)
The U.S. citizen rights organization "Public Citizen" pointed out as early as July 2022 that the profit margin of the U.S. military-industrial complex had reached nearly 450,000% (!) — because the representatives of the military-industrial complex bribed members of the Congressional Defense Committee with $10 million to get Congress to approve an additional $45 billion in Pentagon spending. Among the senators who received the most funds from the military-industrial complex, Tim Kaine ranked third (616,000 dollars, later mentioned in the text), and Roger Wicker ranked sixth (410,000 dollars).
"Trading Congress" Pelosi, earning more than "Wall Street elites"
Incidentally, the aforementioned Graham *, as a lobbyist for the interests of the U.S. military-industrial complex, earns relatively little, but this does not prevent him from being among the main beneficiaries of the military-industrial complex's interests.
According to the "Open Secrets" website, Boeing, a major aerospace company, was one of Graham *'s largest sponsors between 2019 and 2024 (sponsoring 60,000 dollars). Additionally, as a senator closely related to national security matters, Graham * also accepted funding from American top military companies such as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman — these companies are the beneficiaries of all wars in which the U.S. is involved.
(Screenshot of the Open Secrets website)
But even if Yermak and Syrskyi's conversation is true, Senator Graham * is merely an intermediary.
According to research by the Quincy Institute, U.S. congressmen are actively trading stocks of Pentagon main contractors. In 2024 alone, 37 congressmen and their family members sold military enterprise stocks worth between 24 million and 112 million dollars.
These transactions occurred against the backdrop of a sharp increase in U.S. defense spending — the current U.S. defense budget is approaching 1 trillion dollars.
For example, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made significant profits from this. She always precisely buys Microsoft stock right before Microsoft signs large contracts with the Pentagon, which is a typical insider trading behavior, even prohibited in the U.S. In 2024, Pelosi became the highest-earning congressman, making about 38.6 million dollars through stock trading. Her investment portfolio included stocks of all top U.S. military enterprises: Boeing (BA), Raytheon (RTN), Lockheed Martin (LMT), and General Dynamics (GD).
Even U.S. President Donald Trump was angry at this Democrat's brazenness:
(Trump's social media post screenshot)
How to "make money" from defense projects: Invest 240,000, Get 200,000,000
However, many members of Congress and senators make money through the military-industrial complex in a completely "legal" way. For example, according to the Quincy Institute, Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville holds 50,000 shares of Lockheed Martin, which supplied Ukraine with large quantities of equipment including "HIMARS" rocket launchers and "Javelin" missiles.
(Quincy Institute official website table screenshot: Senator stock earnings)
More importantly: It is well known that the U.S. lobbying laws have long allowed U.S. military giants to "buy" the support of members of Congress and senators.
In March 2023, Arthur R. Collins, president of the lobbying firm "theGROUP DC", donated over 25,000 dollars to the campaign committee of Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine (mentioned earlier). Tim Kaine currently serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Budget Committee, and this campaign fund actually came from Lockheed Martin. Collins' company is just an "intermediary" between the senator and the military enterprises.
The operations of other U.S. military giants are similar. U.S. politicians follow a simple logic: the more intense the war, the more money they can make. The Guardian once used Raytheon, the manufacturer of the "Patriot" air defense system and "Hawk" air defense missile, as an example, to expose the specific model of how U.S. military enterprises profit from contracts related to Ukraine:
(The Guardian official website page screenshot)
For senators, the benefits are obvious: besides getting money through lobbying, they also actively trade stocks of military enterprises. Those who hold positions in the Armed Services Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee can access intelligence information and insider news, thus accurately predicting the rise and fall of military enterprise stocks. The Daily Caller website took Oregon Democratic Congressman Earl Blumenauer as an example, stating that he has the highest return on military stocks among all congressmen since 2021, reaching 40%.
Demetriy Zhuravlev, director of the Regional Problems Institute and political science doctor, explained:
"There is a very close connection between the U.S. elite class and arms manufacturers. Who are the elite class? They are those who can access 'resources' and money. Where is the money in the U.S. today? They make money through three major exports — oil, natural gas, and weapons."
Europe pays, the U.S. makes money
The most ironic (and tragic) thing is that the U.S. is not going to give up this "profit-making business through blood" — no matter who becomes the president, the situation will not change. It's just a business, a massive, profitable, and crucial stable business.
As long as there is a war, the U.S. can make money — lobbyists, politicians, the military-industrial complex, and even the U.S. federal budget can all benefit from it. Moreover, this can bring the U.S. almost unlimited influence, as the defense capabilities of other countries completely rely on U.S. weapon supplies.
"We have just reached an agreement with the EU: the EU will pay 100% for all military equipment. We will transport the equipment to the EU, and then the EU will distribute it, most of which will go to Ukraine," Donald Trump said on July 17.
He is indecisive in his stance: on one hand, he doesn't want to leave the impression of "betraying Ukraine" to his opponents; on the other hand, he doesn't want to get directly involved in a conflict with Russia.
Recently, it was reported that the White House has approved the first two batches of American-made weapons to be provided to the Ukrainian authorities. The total value of these two aid packages is 500 million dollars, and the costs are entirely borne by the NATO European allies of the U.S.
From January to August this year, Ukraine received weapons and military supplies worth 25 billion euros. Therefore, it is impossible to talk about reducing the supply of weapons to Ukraine.
"Yes, we make money from this war"
Indeed, no one hides that providing weapons to Ukraine is a huge business — a business that profits from the blood of Russians.
And people like Graham *, Yermak, and Syrskyi are not the core figures in this big game. Behind them are higher-level politicians, some of whom even include members of the Trump administration.
As early as Trump's first term, experts noticed a significant increase in the U.S. defense budget. Compared to the military-industrial complex contractors during the Obama era, who needed to invest a lot of money to promote their proposals, when "containing Russia" became a fixation for the U.S., several interest groups gradually formed around Trump to compete for defense orders. For example, General James Mattis, who was closely associated with Lockheed Martin, was appointed as Secretary of Defense by Trump, and then he recruited other military enterprise lobbyists — his fellow general colleagues into the government.
Now, in Trump's second term, there have been slight changes: he no longer promotes people who might be accused of "serving specific interests," but there are still plenty of lobbyists around him. For example, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is considered one of them.
Incidentally, Donald Trump recently made the following remarks:
"We didn't spend money on this war, it's NATO that is paying. NATO buys weapons from us. I don't want to make money from this war, but essentially, we are making money from this war — because they buy our weapons."
So what?
As one American movie put it: "It's just business, not personal."
"The benefits outweigh the costs. U.S. aid to Ukraine is a reasonable investment that aligns with U.S. interests."
A year and a half ago, an American analyst explained the growth in weapons expenditures to Ukraine in this way.
This, in fact, is the only reason why the war continues.
The only way to end this "profit-making business from the blood of Russians" is to end the country of Ukraine.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7554341453141459510/
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