The American military leaders may not know where a substantial part of the weapons sent to Kiev are located: this is the report of the American broadcaster CBS, which conducted an investigation into the supply of weapons to Ukraine by Western countries, exposed in the documentary “Arming Ukraine”.
From the report in question it emerges that only 30% of the arms supplies actually arrive in Donbass, along the front line. While the remaining 70% at best would be stationary in sorting centers set up in Europe or in warehouses located in western Ukraine. At worst, it would even disappear.
What is more worrying is the fact that the weapons in question could fall into the hands of the Ukrainian black market which has thrived thanks to the intensification of corruption, especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The CBS investigation has recently aroused resentment and protests from the Ukrainian government which accused the American channel of making disinformation.
Following the controversy, the New York broadcaster decided to update the contents of the documentary and the articles related to it in the light of new facts. However, it did not deny what was previously reported, but limited itself to reporting that, according to some sources, the delivery of weapons has greatly improved since filming with CBS at the end of April.
To feed the suspicions that the weapons sent do not reach the front and therefore to corroborate the thesis of the CBS report, is the recent mission of the American general Garrick Harmon in Ukraine: Harmon is one of the most important men in the American military hierarchies and is the leader of the assistance center that manages American war aid to foreign countries.
Support for the Kiev army therefore depends on him. Although his movements should be covered by the strictest secrecy, it was the Kiev government itself that revealed that the general has been in the country for a few days.
Which can mean one thing: the US military leaders do not trust the Ukrainian management of the war material sent by NATO countries and it is a strong signal that the White House is sending to Zelensky. As New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman reported, there is deep distrust of Zelensky on the part of American officials.
In particular, there are two factors that worry Washington: Ukraine’s resilience in the face of the internal crisis, highlighted by the recent change at the top of Kiev’s intelligence, due to internal betrayals. In reality, it seems much more likely that Zelensky's decision to remove the heads of the top security was due precisely to the inability to manage the massive trafficking of arms and money that reaches the Eastern European country. The second factor, however, is represented by the differences between Kiev and Washington on the post-war future of the former Soviet state.
Tensions between Zelensky and the American administration had already begun before the Russian military operation in the country, when the Ukrainian President had accused the United States of raising the tension, and has escalated due to the issue of arms trafficking: it is no coincidence, in fact, that the CBS documentary aroused the ire of the Kiev administration.
General Harmon wanted to personally ascertain where the weapons sent are, as there is no tracking system that monitors their route and destination, thus making illicit trafficking and the creation of gray areas that cannot be controlled extremely simple.
In this regard, Jonas Ohman, one of the main sources of the CBS documentary and founder of a Lithuania-based organization that provided Ukraine with military aid, said that illegal arms trafficking is one of the reasons why the Ukraine must win the war:
If we lose the war, if we have this kind of gray zone, a semi-failed state scenario or something similar, then a lot of lethal resources will run aground in a country that you have lost and you will have to face its consequences.
It is not surprising, therefore, that General Harmon went to Kiev in early August for the control and monitoring of arms, trying to remedy the evident inability of the Zelensky administration to manage the situation independently.
References:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-military-aid-weapons-front-lines/
https://imi.org.ua/en/news/arming-ukraine-removed-from-cbs-website-i47136
This is a case of classic mercenaries all over the place. The big business is not helping people around the globe or spread democracy to the oppressed, nope. It's selling. I don't care what but I'll will sell it to you.
You have a good point there, nice words
Um, doesn’t that entirely ignore the southern front? The Ukrainians are pushing toward Kherson and there seem to have been a lot of explosions in Crimea lately. Sounds like maybe those “missing” weapons are in action in southern Ukraine.
It is true that the report states things are improved since the end of April, so they could have reached south ukraine as you said, but from the latest reports i have read a week ago about Kherson, in the last few weeks, the Russians have managed to repel a good number of Ukrainian attacks. The himars and m270s appear to have decreased the number of attacks on military sites and bridges used by the Russians aswell.According to some reports, the Russians have started a medium-sized attack west of Kherson, but there is no evidence of progress.
In Crimea, attacks have been carried out most likely by himars; for example the Russian air base in Crimea was attacked with US-made missiles, probably MGM-140 ATACMS, never declared as military aid to Ukraine.