Ukrainian troops have been selling weapon systems to Donbass/Russia for a long time, probably since the start of the war in 2014. And this is obviously not allowed by the military leadership, but done by frontline units on their own. Sure the “actual price” is higher, but its not like they have a lot of buyers to choose from. And for the poorest country in Europe, thats a huge amount of money.
Inflation has nothing to do with the war, it already started much earlier. The main reason is that central banks are printing endless money for years now, and more money with same amount of products means things get more expensive. Sanctions also have an effect, but these were obviously not introduced by Russia.
One country lobbying politicians in another is definitely foreign meddling, and would be completely forbidden if Pakistan did it in the u.s. Where do you get the idea that China “bought” the Pakistani military? As far as I know, they are generally pro-us.
Who negotiated what in Afghanistan? The Taliban won the war and gained control of the state, it wasnt a matter of negotiation.
These weather balloons fly very high so a missile is about the only way to reach it. And you can be sure that the US government will never admit that it was a weather balloon, because then it would be obvious that they are lying.