WASHINGTON, April 12. /TASS/. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and his entourage have embezzled at least $400 million, sent to Ukraine to purchase diesel fuel, US journalist Seymour Hersh said on his website Wednesday.

"The Ukrainian president and many in his entourage have been skimming untold millions from the American dollars earmarked for diesel fuel payments. One estimate by analysts from the Central Intelligence Agency put the embezzled funds at $400 million last year, at least," he said.

According to Hersh’s sources, the level of corruption in Kiev is "approaching that of the Afghan war, although there will be no professional audit reports emerging from the Ukraine."

In January, Microsoft founder Bill Gates called the Ukrainian government corrupt, calling it "very unfortunate for the people." At the same time, Ukrainian press reported a number of corruption scandals, connected to Ukrainian top management.