Defense Secretary General Austin is out of the hospital and back on the job. He immediately contradicted a Russian report of Western weapons hitting the black market.
Even though an audit showed that a billion dollars in U.S. military equipment sent to Ukraine is unaccounted for, he said there is no “credible evidence” of misuse or illicit diversion of this aid.
“The United States continues to work hard to monitor and account for US Security Assistance delivered to Ukraine,” Austin said, “and we’ve seen no credible evidence of the misuse or illicit diversion of American equipment provided to Ukraine. But what we do see is Ukraine using the capabilities that we provided to defend itself against Russian aggression streamlining maximal…”
He did not mention the billion dollars worth of “high-risk” equipment, including critical weapons systems, advanced shoulder-fired missiles, and kamikaze drones.
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They are labeled “high-risk” due to the advanced technology. There are numerous reports of Western weapons being sold on the black market.
In early 2000, Ukrainian arms dealing was big business. In 2022, the BBC investigated one claim and found them to be Syrian weapons, not Ukrainian.
According to the Inspector General, the US poorly monitors the weapons
THE RUSSIANS CLAIM
The Russians claim that Ukrainians – to maximize profits from the conflict – are simply reselling some of the weapons supplied by the West on the black market. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said, “You can find plenty of such announcements on the dark net. It is hard to imagine that this is happening without the knowledge and participation of Western businessmen.”
“One of the latest examples is the American M-16 rifles, transferred to Kiev, which anyone can buy for cryptocurrency via an online ad. Of course, terrorist groups are taking advantage of the situation. The weapons fall into their hands and spread over Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America,” Lavrov said.
That could also be Russian propaganda.
There have been many reports of terrorists buying Western arms from Ukraine.
Responding to Lavrov’s brazen lies that Ukraine is selling military equipment on the black market, Lloyd Austin said the US has no data on Ukraine’s misuse of US-supplied weapons and continues to closely monitor the delivery of military aid to Ukraine.
Today Defense Secretary… pic.twitter.com/OjcWAs9Hxj
— Yasmina (@yasminalombaert) January 23, 2024
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