US failed to track more than US$1 billion in military gear given to Ukraine
- More than US$1 billion of $1.67 billion worth of military equipment sent to Ukraine remains ‘delinquent’
- Audit finding is likely to provide fodder for Republican politicians who oppose additional aid for Ukraine
Shortfalls in required monitoring by American officials mean the US cannot track more than US$1 billion in weapons and military equipment provided to Ukraine to fight invading Russian forces, according to a Pentagon audit.
The findings mean that 59 per cent of US$1.7 billion in defence gear that the US has provided Ukraine and was directed to guard against misuse or theft remained “delinquent”, the report by the Defence Department’s office of the inspector-general, the watchdog body for the Pentagon, said.
While Biden administration officials stressed Thursday that there was no evidence the weapons had been stolen, the audit undermines two years of lavish assurances from the administration that rigorous monitoring would keep US military aid given to Ukraine from being misused. That’s despite the country’s long-standing reputation for corruption.
“There remains no credible evidence of illicit diversion of US-provided advanced conventional weapons from Ukraine,” Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters.
Citing what he said was Russian disinformation to the contrary, Ryder added: “The fact is, we observed the Ukrainians employing these capabilities on the battlefield. We’re seeing them use them effectively”.
US President Joe Biden is already struggling to win congressional approval for more US military and financial aid to Ukrainian government forces, which are struggling to drive out Russian forces that pushed deeper into the country in February 2022. The audit findings are likely to make Biden’s task even harder.