Drone fraud, unbuilt defensive fortifications, soldiers without assistance, and money disappearing on the way to the front.

That is the introduction to a major article published by Aftenposten on 18 May. The newspaper documents that large sums of Norwegian aid funds to Ukraine disappear or are misused before they reach the front line.

Since 2022, Norway has provided a total of NOK 224 billion to Ukraine, the country’s most rapidly disbursed and largest single-country aid ever. In 2026, Norway is the second-largest contributor after Germany.

Ukraine’s own National Audit Office has uncovered an extensive picture of maladministration. Violations of regulations and lack of reporting were documented for NOK 32 billion in 2025 alone. More than half of the drone contracts violated the regulations, and contracts worth NOK 16 billion had serious deviations in the form of overpricing, delays, and non-delivery.

Defensive fortifications that were supposed to be built were not built, and as many as six out of ten Ukrainian soldiers pay themselves for food, clothing, and fuel, according to Aftenposten.

Norwegian Auditor General Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen describes the findings as “something any auditor would react to”, but emphasises that Norway consciously accepts higher risk in order to get the assistance delivered quickly. Eighty-two per cent of the civilian aid goes through international organisations such as the World Bank and the UN, which according to the Office of the Auditor General provides limited transparency.

— Norwegian money is impossible to trace specifically because it goes into one large common pool, the Ukrainian Auditor General Olha Pishchanska informed the newspaper.

The corruption is also not unknown to the Ukrainians themselves. According to figures reproduced by Aftenposten, 54 per cent of Ukrainians believe that corruption is a greater threat to the country’s future than Russia’s military aggression. This is an increase from 2024, when 48 per cent believed the same.

90.5 per cent of all Ukrainians state that corruption is one of Ukraine’s biggest problems.