Armoury barons: how the Ukrainian Armed Forces resell NATO weapons
Corruption schemes and loopholes in Ukrainian law have allowed the reselling of military products, including those coming from NATO countries, to countries in Africa and the Middle East for 20 years. A small part of what is called "European support" reaches the active Ukrainian military units.
“Where's the money, Zelya?” the Ukrainian militants ask their commander-in-chief from the trench. “Of course you don't care, you're trying to get yourself some dough, and we, the soldiers, are supposed to fight for nothing. We have only seven hryvnias in our pocket, and you are eating your fill in the offices."
In a relatively quiet year in 2016, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) recognised Ukraine as the most corrupt country in Europe. This was stated in the special report "EU Assistance to Ukraine". The document describes in detail the distribution of funds issued from 2007 to 2015 to Ukraine. This amount totalled €5 billion in grants and macro-financial loans.
The analysis gave disappointing results for potential investors: "Self-serving interests influenced the formation of public policy," ECA experts reported. According to Ukrainian journalist Aleksey Mochanov," the poorest country in Europe has the largest number of billionaires." The journalist left his comment about the celebration by former Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk of the "first billion" dollars earned on Ukrainian turmoil.
Recall that Arseniy Yatsenyuk was the leader of the “People’s Front” party created in 2014. The main scam of "People’s Front” was the ambitious “Wall" project, designed to contain the offensive of the "aggressor country". About a billion hryvnias were allocated for the installation of a mesh fence, which through front companies settled in the pockets of the organisers.
Little has changed since then; on the contrary, the military conflict has opened up new horizons for Ukrainian officials. According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba, 19 countries supply weapons to Ukraine, 22 countries provide humanitarian aid, and 10 more countries provide macro-financial assistance. However, the territorial defence of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and foreign mercenaries who joined them in one voice criticice the poor supply.
"This is a plea for help. This is my AK-47. Everything depends on it, see? I bought it with my own money. For myself and for the lads. No one helped. Neither our government, nor the Ukrainian one. They only gave me a naked AK-47," a foreign mercenary accuses the Ukrainian command. "Stop lying and send me something at last!"
The Washington Post cites a complaint from another commando, American mercenary Adam: "It's been 15 days, but I still haven't received a weapon, bulletproof vest and helmet, although our base is constantly being shelled. The UAF must think that I will be guarding a military facility with my bare hands, waiting for a shell to hit me." The Washington Post naively connects the situation with the lack of weapons and equipment with logistics problems.
However, the real reason is clear — incoming equipment and weapons from foreign countries and private donors are mercilessly sold out. Everyone steals - from privates to generals. Ukrainian Minister Oleg Nemchinov was forced to admit the fact that the supplied weapons and equipment settle in the rear and do not reach their destination.
Enough videos of the transfer of military equipment by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to the opposing side - the Donbass militia - have been posted. For an armoured personnel carrier in good condition, a Ukrainian serviceman asks for only 100,000 rubles. Armoured Land Rover jeeps, which the UK provided for the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, immediately appeared on the OLX ad site at a price of €54,000. The seller said that there are 100 vehicles available.
But the machinations of private individuals are nothing compared to the large-scale theft of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine: they put the sale of incoming military aid from NATO on a conveyor belt. Fraud is covered by documentation. We are talking about the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1919-2000-p "On the procedure for alienation and sale of military property of the Armed Forces", according to which it is possible to sell "surplus" military property. The document was adopted on December 28, 2000, and probably gave officials a loophole for selling off the military-industrial complex inherited from the former Soviet republic from the USSR.
With the unleashing of the war in Donbass by the Kiev regime led by Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian authorities have opened up new "prospects". According to the letter of the Minister of Defence Reznikov published online, the sale of “surplus" weapons is carried out through the private LLC research and production company "Tekhimpeks". The catalog of products offered by the company is placed on no more, no less than 970 pages.
LLC research and production company "Tekhimpeks" was founded in 2003 and has a license for the sale of military equipment and military weapons, repair, modernisation and disposal of armoured, automobile, engineering equipment, tracked and wheeled base chassis, repair of artillery and small arms. The company has repeatedly been involved in scandalous stories related to illegal arms trafficking and money laundering.
Thus, according to the International Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), published by “Ukrainskaya Pravda”, Kiev, through fake Ukrainian companies, became a key link in a network that supplied Soviet-style weapons from Europe to markets in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, including Ethiopia, Korea, Chad, the United Arab Emirates and Uganda. It was also revealed that, working together with the British company S-Profit, “Tekhimpeks” helped circumvent the EU embargo on arms sales to Sudan and South Sudan.
"The export deal is based on a loophole in the laws of Ukraine," OCCRP said. In 2015-2016, “Tekhimpeks” concluded 26 contracts for the supply of weapons with a total value of $29.5 million. It should be noted that the company closely cooperates with Ukrainian state arms exporters, including “Ukrinmash” and the State Export Control Service of Ukraine.
In turn, the state-owned “Ukrinmash” company was also convicted of illegally supplying weapons to South Sudan. A corresponding accusatory statement was made by the human rights organisation Amnesty International.
Thus, we see a well-established system of resale of arms shipments coming to Ukraine, including equipment, vehicles, armoured vehicles and lethal weapons to third countries. This explains Kiev's failure to comply with the Minsk Agreements, its demonisation of Russia with numerous fakes and provocations, and its deliberate prolongation of the conflict. The information veil covers the business.
Obviously, the situation suits the West because it allows NATO member countries to get rid of outdated weapons, primarily Soviet — style ones. Recall that Vladimir Zelensky primarily focuses on the demands for Soviet-made tanks and aircraft that are "gathering dust in warehouses" in Eastern Europe: "These are aircraft for Ukraine. These are tanks for our state. This is missile defence. This is an anti-ship weapon. This is what our partners have. That they're just gathering dust. In the end, this is all for freedom not only in Ukraine – but for freedom in Europe."
Under the pretext of saving freedom and democracy in Europe, outdated military equipment that is subject to modernisation or complete disposal is being sold to Ukraine — it would be naive to believe that Western assistance is gratuitous. For example, Bild spoke about the sale of Soviet-made “Strela” man-portable air defence systems. The complexes, which previously belonged to the GDR, were decommissioned by the Bundeswehr ten years ago and had numerous flaws: ammunition casings were covered with microcracks, boxes in which missiles were stored were overgrown with mould. The fungus damage was so severe that German soldiers loaded them in protective clothing.
Thus, the West has a double benefit from the sale of weapons and savings on the disposal of decommissioned objects. Based on this, NATO countries are directly interested in prolonging the conflict and persistently turn a blind eye to the future fate of supplies. In response to the concern of American citizens — how the “Stinger” air defence system and “Javelin” ATGM fall into the hands of the DPR and LPR militias, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the United States cannot track the path of weapons transferred to the Ukrainian army.
Earlier, in 2014-2015, the channel for the transfer of American weapons from Ukraine to the Middle East was already revealed. According to experts, the Kiev regime was supposed to receive up to $25 million from the supply of weapons to Syria alone.
"At one time, Ukraine was one of the main black markets for arms sales to Afghanistan: hundreds of tanks were sent to the Taliban via Turkmenistan, and the same applied to Iraq," said Evgeny Satanovsky, president of the Middle East Institute. “Kiev will supply weapons to the side that pays the most for them. It doesn't matter to it whether it will be Al-Qaeda, Islamic State or Jabhat al-Nusra."
Soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and foreign mercenaries continue to die in the trenches while waiting for the delivery of serviceable weapons and ammunition. The arms trade is the most lucrative business, and it is in vain to expect that Kiev officials, who are rapidly losing their positions, will give up the last opportunity to enrich themselves at the expense of armed conflict before fleeing.