Russian Duma Speaker accuses USAID of “crimes against humanity”
Shafaq News/ On Wednesday, Russian State Duma Speaker, Vyacheslav Volodin, described the US Agency for International Development (USAID) as a “criminal network”.
Volodin wrote on Telegram, “According to the charter, USAID provides support to the economy, healthcare, and education, as well as provide emergency humanitarian aid. But in fact, the Agency has turned into a real criminal network, with offices in more than 100 countries and an annual budget of 50–60 billion dollars,”
He accused USAID of funding research on biological weapons and being complicit in crimes against humanity.
“Hundreds of thousands of dollars were sent by USAID to organizations affiliated with terrorists and militants, including Al-Qaeda, which is banned in the United States and Russia,” Volodin claimed.
Another crime according to the Chairman of the State Duma is spending hundreds of millions on equipment and fertilizers used for poppy cultivation and heroin production in certain countries.
Volodin also accused USAID of “propaganda of transgender transition, abortions, racial and gender agenda. By using soft power technologies, alien values have been imposed on the world for decades, positive images have been created for absolutely unnatural processes. As a result — dehumanization of the world.”
Those responsible must be punished to prevent a repeat of such actions, he further underscored.
Earlier, USAID announced that most of its employees worldwide would be placed on administrative leave starting at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (UTC -5 hours) on Friday.
The announcement follows comments by Elon Musk, who claimed that former US President Donald Trump had agreed to shut down the agency. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has hinted at new leadership and a possible restructuring of USAID.
