Accounting error allows Pentagon to send $3 billion more to Ukraine

Thursday’s admission comes at a time when the Pentagon is under increasing pressure from Congress to show accountability for the billions of dollars it has sent in weapons, ammunition and equipment to Ukraine and as some lawmakers question whether that level of support should continue.

Accounting errors that caused the US to send another 3 billion dollars are a threat to Ukraine, picture 1 — Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery near Bakhmut on May 15, 2023. AP Photo/Libkos

This could free up more money for key weapons as Ukraine faces an expected counterattack. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously said the offensive was delayed because they did not yet have everything they needed.

The accounting error occurred when officials overpriced some systems sent to Ukraine.

“During our routine monitoring of the president’s withdrawal packages, the Department discovered inconsistencies in the valuation of equipment for Ukraine. In some cases, ‘replacement cost’ rather than ‘net book value’ was used, thereby overestimating the value of equipment taken from the U.S. stockpile,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh.

She added that the mistake did not limit US support for Ukraine or hinder the ability to send aid to the battlefield.

To date, the United States has provided Ukraine with nearly $37 billion in military aid since Russia launched its offensive in February 2022. Much of that has been weapons systems, millions of weapons and ammunition, and a range of trucks, sensors, radars and other equipment taken from Pentagon stockpiles and sent quickly to Ukraine.

Members of Congress have repeatedly pressed Defense Department leaders about how closely the U.S. keeps track of its aid to Ukraine to ensure it is not being tampered with or falling into the wrong hands. The Pentagon has said it has a “robust program” to track aid as it crosses the border into Ukraine and to track it once it is there, depending on the sensitivity of each weapons system.

In late February, the Pentagon’s inspector general said his office had found no evidence that any of the billions of dollars in weapons and aid to Ukraine had been lost to corruption or diverted into the wrong hands. He cautioned that those investigations were still in their early stages.

Mai Anh (according to AP, CNA)

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