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The Pentagon failed to properly track more than $1bn worth of weapons the US provided to Ukraine, according to a watchdog’s report that could fuel concerns about whether the arms had been diverted from Kyiv at a time when Congress is weighing whether to send more military aid.
The report from the defence department’s inspector-general did not offer an assessment on whether the weapons had been diverted but found that the US did not appropriately monitor at least $1bn of $1.7bn in weapons sent to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbour nearly two years ago.
The exports covered by the report include shoulder-fired missiles such as Javelins and Stingers, switchblade or “kamikaze” drones and night vision goggles.
The equipment that was designated for so-called enhanced end-use monitoring covers only a small part of the more than $44bn in lethal aid the US has provided since Russia’s invasion.
“It was beyond the scope of our evaluation to determine whether there has been diversion of such assistance,” said the report, which was published on Thursday. It added that the high rates of missing or unaccounted for weapons “may increase the risk of theft of diversion”.
A defence department official said: “There is no credible evidence of illicit diversion of US-provided advanced conventional weapons from Ukraine.”
The inspector-general’s report shows that the practices employed by US diplomats and military officials to track weapons fell short of the stringent monitoring processes the Biden administration has cited as part of its argument for additional assistance. That is likely to intensify concerns in Congress and the American public about how taxpayer funds are being spent.
The report found that US diplomats and military officials experienced logistical and personnel issues that contributed to their shortfalls in tracking aid inside Ukraine as well as neighbouring Poland, where the US maintains a logistics hub.
It also assessed that even if the Pentagon improves its monitoring methods, tracking changes to the inventory will continue to be challenging.
The debate on approving more assistance for Ukraine has grown increasingly fractious in Congress, especially among Republicans. House and Senate Republicans have demanded that President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats agree to a border security and immigration package in order to pass tens of billions in additional assistance for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
Republicans have demanded that the White House provide more accountability for the aid as well as lay out a strategy for US support for Ukraine and a pathway to resolving the conflict.
