We’ve sent Ukraine billions of dollars worth of aid, but how much of it ever actually reached the front lines?
From Daily Caller News Foundation. U.S. defense and diplomatic officials improperly tracked more than $1 billion in weapons provided to Ukraine as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to help the country defend itself against Russia’s invasion, raising questions about the U.S. ability to monitor aid, according to an inspector general report.
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The investigation focused on how the Department of Defense (DOD) kept tabs on nearly 40,000 items, considered sensitive and especially vulnerable to smuggling operations, according to The New York Times, which received a copy of the report. As of June 2, 2023, the U.S. had transferred to Ukraine at least $1.699 billion in items that by law qualify for enhanced end-use monitoring, DOD officials failed to compile full or timely inventories on 69% of the total value, the report, released in a redacted form Thursday, stated.
DOD’s inability to input items into government databases or confirm their location in a timely manner “may increase the risk of theft or diversion,” the report found. …
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022, officials in charge of monitoring the equipment as it passes through transport hubs in Poland to eventually reach Ukraine’s front lines have failed to meet a 90-day reporting requirement, the report found. That was mostly due to a lack of staff and travel restrictions within Ukraine, limiting how far U.S. officials could trace the equipment. …
Lawmakers in recent months have intensified pressures for increased oversight of weapons, equipment and humanitarian assistance devoted to Ukraine since the invasion. While the items encompassed in the watchdog report represent just a fraction of the nearly $45 billion in security aid the U.S. has committed and highlights the challenges of end-use monitoring in a warzone. …
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(Excerpt from Daily Caller News Foundation. Photo Credit: Max Kukurudziak on Unsplash)