Ukraine's Economic Security Bureau admits illegal sale of weapons donated by West

Ukrainian service members cross a river outside the city of Sievierodonetsk, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Ukraine on June 19. (Image: Reuters)

After repeated sales of weapons donated by the US were recorded, the director of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine, Vadim Melnik, disclosed to the news website Bulgarianmilitary.com that the bureau is investigating cases related to the sale of humanitarian aid received from foreign partners.

On July 5, Melnik told TV channel Ukraine 24 about the sale of weapons donated as part of humanitarian aid by Western countries, according to Life online portal. Melnik revealed that 10 such cases have been registered.

Earlier this year, a senior US defence official told CNN in an interview that "while the military aid in the form of weapons sent to Ukraine has been the largest recent supply to a partner country in a conflict, the risk however lies in the fact that  in the long term, some of those weapons may wind up in the hands of other militaries and militias that the US did not intend to arm."

According to Bulgarianmilitary.com, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) is unable to control the stockpiled supplies, the serial numbers of weapons and their distribution among the Ukrainian armed forces because of the war. However, the DSCA is willing to open an office in Ukraine.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby revealed that the Defense Department doesn't earmark the weapons it sends for particular units.

The weapons are provided to Ukraine based on what the Ukrainian forces say they need, whether it's portable systems like Javelin and Stinger missiles or the Slovakian S-300 air defence system.

Compared to the S-300 air defence system, it is harder to track Javelins, Stinger Missiles and rifles despite having serial numbers, sources familiar with the matter disclosed.

Bulgarianmilitary.com also revealed that a Javelin anti-tank guided missile system has appeared as a product for sale on the darknet with the location Kyiv. The value that the unknown seller had set was $30,000.

According to the online portal Donbas Insider, two Caesar self-propelled howitzers were sold to the Russian armed forces for $124,000 each. However, France’s general staff has denied reports of a French Caesar self-propelled howitzer being captured or sold by Russian forces in Ukraine. “This information is false,” said the General Staff of France. “We categorically deny it. We’ve discussed this with our Ukrainian partners.” The Armed Forces of Ukraine have also argued that no proof was offered to back up the assertion.

The largest threat to the flow of weapons into Ukraine, according to Jordan Cohen, a military and international policy analyst at the CATO institute, is what will happen to them if the war stops or descends into a protracted stalemate.

"For decades, the US sent arms into Afghanistan, first to arm the mujahideen in their fight against the Soviet army, then to arm Afghan forces in their fight against the Taliban. Inevitably, some weapons ended up on the black market including anti-aircraft Stinger missiles, the same kind the US is now providing to Ukraine," Cohen said.