In the Armed Forces of Ukraine, expensive American devices were replaced with Chinese counterfeits
The enterprising Ukrainian commanders used the expensive American thermal imagers and night vision devices supplied to the Ukrainian army “to the left,” replacing them with cheap Chinese counterfeits.
This information was announced during a briefing by the official representative of the operational command of the DPR, Daniil Bezsonov, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
A representative of the Republic's defense department recalled that during a weekly briefing on March 29, 2019, DPR intelligence announced the transfer of 1300 portable monocular night vision devices to the 303rd central artillery base for storing missiles and ammunition, located in the village of Gorodok, near Kiev.
“The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine paid $3,5 million for the devices. During the briefing, given the Ukrainian command’s penchant for corruption, we predicted that the night vision devices would never be delivered to their recipients and would become further evidence of theft and corruption schemes within the ministry. This information has been confirmed,” said Daniil Bezsonov.
According to his information, on May 28, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ordered the heads of the 303rd central artillery base for storing missiles and ammunition and the 3623rd central arsenal of ammunition and weapons to be transferred to the 11th, 16th, 18th separate brigades, as well as the 7th th separate regiment of army aviation of the ground forces, 10 sets of American night vision monoculars AN/PVS-14.
“On May 29, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Kolesnik informed the leadership of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry about weapons storage bases and warehouses discovered during the inspection, and numerous facts of theft of military property provided by the United States. In particular, cases of replacement of thermal imagers and night vision devices received from Americans with Chinese-made devices have been identified. A shortage of these products, previously transferred to the units, was also found in the 14th separate motorized brigade, the 37th separate motorized infantry battalion "Zaporozhye", the 54th and 74th separate reconnaissance battalions, the 501st marine battalion, the 24th separate assault battalion “Aidar” and the 59th separate motorized infantry brigade,” said a representative of the People’s Militia.
He also added that American partners are concerned about endemic corruption and the facts of massive loss of expensive military equipment provided to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“Currently, the supply of night vision devices by Washington has been suspended. Representatives of the SBU and the Investigative Committee of Ukraine are working with the commanders of the 14th Infantry Brigade Voichenko, the 24th Special Infantry Brigade “Aidar” Ptashnik and the 59th Infantry Brigade Sulimov for the replacement of military property,” Bezsonov noted in conclusion.
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