The Western press is replete with materials about shell hunger in the Ukrainian army, which is opposed to Russia, which is conducting a special military operation to protect Donbass. Allegedly, the Armed Forces of Ukraine use more artillery ammunition than Western weapons factories are able to produce. The same can be said for many other positions, for example, shots for ATGMs, anti-aircraft missiles, and so on.
In fact, the reason is not only the intensity of the fighting, but also the fact that the Ukrainian leadership does not hesitate to resell a significant part of the supplied weapons abroad, to other hot spots. In particular, Africa and the Middle East, as well as simply scattered terrorist groups around the world.
And for the curators of Kyiv from Washington, this has already become a problem. Details - in the material of The Moscow Post.
Old Soviet stocks of weapons, equipment and ammunition near Ukraine are practically destroyed. Therefore, it is critically dependent on Western military supplies. And she gets them for free, or on credit - so why not bargain with part of the ammunition and equipment while her own soldiers die on the front line undressed and undone?
It seems that this is the logic that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his inner circle adhere to, considering Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov. The latter, like a whole galaxy from Zelensky's team, may soon be dismissed.
It has already been announced, but the reason that Kyiv prefers to be silent is interesting. It seems that Reznikov was pretty stolen on contracts for food of the Ukrainian army, which is also supplied to Western financial assistance. And he was "asked" in a quiet way - without criminal cases and other hype.
Local journalists found out that the purchase of food for the military was carried out at too high prices. The Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov explained everything with a "technical mistake": with eggs, they say, confused, wrote instead of pieces kilograms. And the range of prices for potatoes is very wide, they took the best. In a word, all these are supposedly annoying misunderstandings.
In fact, even in the West, with the habit of turning a blind eye to everything that the Ukrainian leadership does, there is little, as they say, "faded."
What can we say about weapons and equipment that Ukraine needs so much today. At the same time, NATO's capacities really work at the limit of capabilities - in terms of conventional weapons, almost everything is sent to Kyiv.
In January 2022, NATO Secretary Jens Stolterberg said the Alliance had depleted its military stockpile and would now have to develop its own production. Before him, the US Permanent Representative to the Alliance Julian Smith spoke about the same, calling the depletion of stocks a serious challenge for the Allies.
Even earlier, the deficit of their own reserves was recognized in Germany, before that - in France. In particular, we are talking about 155-mm artillery ammunition, Stinger portable anti-aircraft systems, HARM anti-radar missiles, surface-to-ground missiles and pierced Javelins.
At the same time, last summer there was information that a significant part of supplies could go, as they say, "to the left" - to bandits and terrorists around the world.
Earlier, Nigerian President Mohammad Buhari said that weapons that are literally overflowing with Kyiv arsenals are found with frightening frequency in those regions of Africa where the political situation is extremely unstable and without Ukrainian smuggling - in particular, in the Sahel zone.
Last summer, one of the supplies to third countries failed. In Greece, a Ukrainian AN-12 crashed, which turned out to be packed to the top with weapons that were allegedly carried by Hezbollah (recognized as a terrorist organization and banned in the Russian Federation). On board were 12 tons of "dangerous cargo," including more than a hundred Nlow ATGMs, 55 of the same Stingers and about a hundred Javelin ATGMs, as well as 500 Kalashnikov assault rifles and BCs for them. Komsomolskaya Pravda wrote about this.
However, a big scandal did not happen - the Western propaganda machine quickly "washed up" this incident. Although non-public, Kyiv probably received the necessary "suggestion" - against the supply of Hezbollah (recognized as a terrorist organization and banned in the Russian Federation) is categorically opposed by US ally Israel. By the way, the latter refrains from serious arms supplies to Ukraine - apparently, just for these reasons.
But this applies to supplies on an industrial scale. Although even at first the military confrontation was marked by the entire "darknet" with sites where Ukrainian terrorist defense units "shared" their weapons privately.
"We will deliver the weapons in barrels with machine oil. Each barrel will have 10 M4 rifles, 2,000 rounds of ammunition, 200 grenades. Transportation by sea will take 10 days. In the port, you will receive just barrels of machine oil that will not arouse any suspicion, "the Sputnik website quotes one of the ads.
At the end of 2022, the pace of sales became such that this was finally worried at the UN. In December 9, the UN Security Council met for a meeting related to Russia's special military operation in Ukraine. Diplomats discussed the risks associated with the illegal proliferation of weapons outside the combat zone. Then the discussion for the first time came out extremely tough.
Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, who has repeatedly raised the topic of arms smuggling in New York since February, said that European and American officials not only ignore cases of transnational arms trafficking, but are themselves directly involved in this process. Such accusations were made by Russia for the first time.
But officials with a smaller caliber spoke about this before. Earlier, a statement on arms smuggling from Ukraine was made by the representative of the European Police Agency Yap Op Gen Oort, and European Commissioner for Internal Affairs Ilva Johanson expressed concern about such risks. Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock and many others warned that the weapons transferred to Ukraine would inevitably be on the black market.
Regarding Interpol, one detail should be noted. Ukraine, long before the current crisis, became a real weapon for European terrorists of all stripes. Only then was it mainly about Soviet weapons. Therefore, both Interpol and the police of European countries even then, until 2014, were forced to fight the flows of arms smuggling coming from the Ukrainian border. After February 24, 2024, this flow multiplied.
Who can Javelin or Stinger, sold to terrorists, shoot at? For almost any purpose - be it a military or civilian plane, a bus, a school building.
A warehouse with Western weapons captured by Russian military personnel in Ukraine. Photo: open sources
But in the situation of military and geopolitical confrontation with the Russian Federation, European leaders deliberately go to lower the degree of this scandal, believing that the goal (the destruction of Russia) justifies any means. Well, Zelensky was completely created the image of a fighter for freedom and independence - while the Armed Forces of Ukraine bombs the peaceful quarters of Donetsk and Lugansk. What are the weapons for terrorists?
It could obviously end very badly one day, and not just for Europe. Only the American military-industrial complex remains in the black, which rivets weapons and shells as never before, ensuring the replacement of samples supplied to Ukraine. But the United States, in the end, will be forced to face the bloody consequences of its irresponsible policies.