Ukraine's defense woes: Faulty arms and corruption exposed
The scandal involving faulty mortar ammunition is not the only issue that Ukrainian authorities, especially soldiers on the front lines, have to confront. For years, they have received equipment unfit for combat or field fortifications that quickly deteriorated.
2:32 PM EST, November 27, 2024
At the end of November 2024, Ukrainian media revealed a major scandal concerning 120 mm mortar shells. According to Ukrainian sources, as many as 100,000 shells supplied by a factory from the Ukroboronprom conglomerate were unfit for use. This stockpile, Ukrainians claim, is sufficient for six months of warfare.
Faulty mortar shells are not the only problem facing the Ukrainian army. Since the beginning of the war, it has grappled with various scandals related to military supplies and corruption within military recruitment.
The aid reaching Ukraine is not always weaponry that can be used to defend its independence. Sometimes, it includes equipment that is entirely unfit for battle.
Faulty weapons for Ukraine
An example of this is the scandal surrounding one of the early batches of German military aid to Ukraine, which was publicized by German media rather than Kyiv. The problems with anti-aircraft missiles were reported by "Der Spiegel".
The issue involved a batch of 2,700 MANPADS 9K32 Strela-2, which are anti-aircraft, handheld missile launchers developed in the 1960s. These were stored in German warehouses after the country's reunification in 1990. After 30 years, when they were retrieved, they were not always usable; according to "Spiegel", one-quarter of the 2,700 "Strelas" were faulty.
Tanks unfit for battle
Another problem—this time with Leopard 1 tanks—was publicized by Ukraine itself in 2023. Kyiv refused to accept a batch of 16 tanks provided by Denmark, declaring them so worn out that they were unfit for combat.
The refusal to accept the dilapidated equipment was not only due to its poor condition but also because of the lack of spare parts and maintenance facilities needed to restore the vehicles' combat capabilities. At that time, Poland took on the task of refurbishing the tanks.
The Danish broadcaster DR highlighted a similar situation in May 2024: a batch of Leopard 1 tanks delivered collectively by Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands turned out to be unfit for combat.
The report disclosed by the Danish Ministry of Defense stated that the tanks transferred to Ukraine had malfunctioning ballistic computers, which prevented accurate shooting, and non-functional electrical and hydraulic systems that affected turret rotation. The scandal was even more significant because, according to documentation, some of the tanks had been refurbished before being sent to Ukraine.
Bulgaria also handed over non-functional equipment—intentionally this time—to Ukraine. Sofia decided to provide an unspecified number of anti-aircraft missiles for the S-300 system, stating that they were faulty and that Bulgaria lacked the means to restore their functionality by itself.
Old equipment can also be valuable
A separate issue is the actual usefulness of weapons provided to Ukraine, even when technically functional. While any aid can be valuable during war, the equipment supplied to Ukraine is rarely modern.
Often, it consists of withdrawn vehicles from previous generations, like lightly armored reconnaissance AMX-10RCs, whose misuse led to significant losses in mid-2023.
On the other hand, old equipment that doesn't meet current standards can still be valuable, exemplified by RPG-76 Komar grenade launchers provided by Poland. Polish soldiers could not use this weapon, not because it was unfit, but due to regulations (the issue was the lack of a self-destruct mechanism). For Ukraine, this weapon, formally unusable in Poland, was fully functional.
It is worth noting that foreign equipment is not the only debated support for Ukraine. A good example is Greece, which was supposed to receive M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles under the Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program, in exchange for infrastructural support for the U.S. Army and aid for Ukraine.
The Greek army refused to accept the vehicles offered to them because they were in such poor technical condition that—according to Greece's defense minister Nikos Dendias—the cost of refurbishment would have been comparable to buying new equipment.
Corruption and embezzlement
Problems also occur on the Ukrainian side. Alongside corruption scandals, inflated prices for products delivered to the military, or supplies not matching specifications (e.g., summer jackets instead of winter ones), a significant scandal involved the embezzlement of funds by the company Lviv Arsenal, which was supposed to deliver 100,000 hand grenades. As revealed by an investigation by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) at the beginning of 2024, the weapons were never delivered.
In September 2024, another scandal was publicized by Ukrainian media, including the local editor of "Czas Czernichowa". It emerged that fortifications, built with great effort and cost and supposed to ensure Ukraine's defense against a Russian attack from the north, were in ruins.
They were constructed with improper materials, and no one maintained them, despite their critical importance to regional security. The acting mayor of Chernihiv accused the head of the military administration of "improving the well-being of himself and his administration, allotting land, and granting shocking bonuses."
