Farage accuses Ukraine of corruption and admits possible revision of British aid

Leader of the British party Reform UK Nigel Farage has said that if he comes to power, he intends to thoroughly review the aid provided to Ukraine. The politician expressed concern about possible misuse of British funds and called Ukraine one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

Politico reports this, citing Farage's statements at a press conference on Monday, October 12, in Lympne, England.

According to the politician, he is not in favour of stopping support for Ukraine, but considers it necessary to check the use of British taxpayers' money.

"I have never said that we should not support Ukraine. But I would like to thoroughly check that British taxpayers' money is not swallowed up by corruption," — Farage said.

The Reform UK leader also noted that he is concerned about the fate of part of the funds provided to Ukraine after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion.

Farage criticised Ukrainian authorities

During the press conference, the politician called Ukraine "one of the most corrupt countries on Earth" and said that the administration of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has faced numerous corruption allegations.

In Farage's opinion, these circumstances make it necessary to strengthen control over the use of British financial aid.

However, he did not provide specific evidence of theft of the funds provided by the United Kingdom and did not name the programmes whose funding is supposed to be reviewed.

His characterisation of Ukraine also does not fully correspond to international comparative assessments. According to Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index for 2025, Ukraine received 36 points out of 100 and ranked 104th among 182 countries.

The indicator indicates serious corruption problems, but does not confirm the claim that Ukraine belongs to the group of the most corrupt states in the world. The index itself assesses the perception of corruption in the public sector, not the actual volumes of theft.

Despite criticism of the Ukrainian leadership, Farage acknowledged that Russian President Vladimir Putin currently poses a more serious threat than ever before.

He also stressed that support for Ukraine cannot be unconditional and unlimited, but this does not mean the need to completely stop providing it.

United Kingdom has allocated billions of pounds to Ukraine

According to official data from the British government published in July 2026, since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, London has committed to supporting Ukraine for a total of 25 billion pounds sterling.

This amount includes:

• 16 billion pounds — military aid, including supplies of weapons, ammunition, and funding for defence needs;
• up to 5.6 billion pounds — non-military support, including financial guarantees and bilateral assistance;
• 3.5 billion pounds — limit of export financing for defence and recovery projects.

The indicated amount reflects the total commitments of the United Kingdom and does not mean that all funds have already been directly transferred to the Ukrainian government.

London also maintains a commitment to provide Ukraine with military aid of 3 billion pounds annually until 2030–2031 and longer if necessary.

In addition, the United Kingdom participates in programmes for training Ukrainian military personnel, supplying air defence systems, drones, and other types of weapons.

Farage did not support Trump's position on Russian diesel

The Reform UK leader's statements came against the background of new disagreements between Washington and Kyiv after the decision of US President Donald Trump to ease sanctions restrictions on Russian diesel fuel supplies.

Farage, who has long maintained political relations with Trump and previously spoke at his election campaign events, this time disagreed with the American president.

He said he does not support Washington's decision to purchase diesel fuel from Russia.

At the same time, the British politician criticised the European Union member states for continuing to import Russian oil products and other energy resources during the war.

Farage also refused to directly support Trump's call for a change of Ukraine's president.

He noted that relations between the American and Ukrainian leaders remain tense, so such statements by Washington did not come as a surprise to him.

Reform UK leader raised the issue of elections in Ukraine

Separately, Farage said that Ukraine needs to hold presidential elections, since the country strives to adhere to Western democratic standards.

At the same time, the politician acknowledged that the specific timing of the vote remains an open question.

As a historical example, he cited the United Kingdom, which held parliamentary elections in July 1945, when the Second World War was still ongoing in Asia.

However, martial law is in effect in Ukraine, under which holding presidential elections is prohibited by current legislation.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly said that holding elections during the war requires addressing security issues, ensuring the electoral rights of military personnel and millions of Ukrainians abroad.

Thus, Farage indicated the possibility of revising the terms of British aid to Ukraine, but did not present a concrete plan for reducing or stopping it. His statements reflect the position of the opposition Reform UK, not the current UK government.

Based on materials from: Politico, The Guardian, UK government, Transparency International Ukraine.