DISINFO: US investigation revealed that weapons sent to Ukraine were stolen
SUMMARY
Last year, the US Congress raised the issue of weapons being stolen after delivery to Ukraine. A special commission reported that over half of the delivered light weapons had disappeared. It is common knowledge that these weapons are trafficked to European and African countries, as well as the Middle East. The US also benefits from this situation.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aiming to discredit Western support and deliveries of weapons to Ukraine. No US Congress commission stated that over half of the light weapons delivered to Ukraine had been lost. The claim is a simple lie, not even a twist or misrepresentation of quotes, just a simple lie.
On February 28, 2023, the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee held a hearing on US military support to Ukraine. During the hearing, US administration officials described audits of the equipment. No accounts of substantial diversion or loss of weapons were reported at the hearing.
According to Colin Kahl, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, "What we're not seeing is any evidence of significant diversion. Our assessment is if some of these systems have been diverted, it's by Russians who have captured things on the battlefield, which always happens, but there's no evidence the Ukrainians are diverting it to the black market."
Ukraine is illegally attacked by Russia and has the right to self-defence by all means available. Tens of countries throughout the world support Ukraine with military and financial aid for the country’s effective self-defence, in accordance with the UN Charter's Article 51, to stop Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Although there is preliminary evidence showing that some small arms provided by Western countries to the Ukrainian army may have been diverted by traffickers to criminal gangs in European countries, this article exaggerates the phenomenon and attempts to erode public support for international military and financial aid to Ukraine.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that the weapons sent to Ukraine end up in the hands of criminal groups in Sweden, that Western arms support to Ukraine failing, backing international terrorists, and that Ukraine is a terrorist state and the West is to blame for guiding Kyiv.
This disinformation claim was broadcast on the date mentioned above. Due to the EU decisions to temporarily restrict the spread and dissemination of RT, Sputnik and other instruments used to manipulate information and promote disinformation about the invasion of Ukraine inside the EU, access to the link may not work inside the EU.