Criminal Gangs, Arms Traffickers in Ukraine Snatching US Weaponry, Inspector General’s Report Says

The Pentagon's internal watchdog discovered a lack of accountability in U.S. aid to Ukrainian forces combating the Russian invasion, resulting in U.S.-supplied weapons occasionally falling into the hands of criminal gangs.

The 19-page report by the Pentagon's Office of Inspector General, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by the Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project, highlights the issue. According to the report, in June 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) intercepted a group of Ukrainian criminals posing as members of a humanitarian aid organization who were selling bulletproof vests that were meant to be distributed to Ukrainian forces. The vests had been illegally imported and were valued at $17,000.

The report, which was issued on October 6 of the previous year but has only now been made public, indicates that the Department of Defense (DoD) faced challenges in monitoring the end-use of aid in Ukraine due to the limited presence of U.S. personnel in the region where the equipment was being used. The lack of sufficient end-use monitoring (EUM) and Enhanced EUM (EEUM) allowed for more instances of U.S. weapons ending up in the wrong hands.

Further examples cited in the report include a group of arms traffickers selling stolen weapons and ammunition from the front lines in southern Ukraine in June 2022. Additionally, volunteer battalion members were found to have illegally stored more than 60 rifles and nearly 1,000 rounds of ammunition in a warehouse for potential black market sales in mid-August 2022.

Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, the United States has provided over $100 billion in aid to Ukraine, including military, humanitarian, and financial support. In April of the current year, Congress approved an emergency $35.4 billion aid package for Ukraine.

Recently, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, proposing the appointment of a special inspector general to oversee spending in Ukraine.

This move is comparable to the oversight mechanisms used in previous conflicts, such as in Afghanistan. However, the Biden administration opposes the idea, arguing that the current oversight efforts led by the Pentagon inspector general and the Government Accountability Office are already investigating all aspects of the assistance provided to Ukraine, as requested by Congress.