Pentagon fell short in tracking $1 billion in Ukraine aid, IG finds

WASHINGTON ― The Defense Department has not fully complied with enhanced tracking requirements for roughly $1 billion worth of equipment sent to Ukraine, a Pentagon Inspector General report released Thursday found.

Most of the improperly tracked equipment is night vision devices, but the list also includes drones as well as missiles. The report did not find any instances of misuse or diversion of the U.S. equipment, as Pentagon Inspector General Robert Storch noted such an assessment would “fall beyond the scope of this project.”

“While there has been significant improvement in the delinquency rate for inventorying this sensitive equipment, persistent gaps as identified in our evaluation may correlate with an inability to maintain complete accountability for this critical U.S. security assistance,” Storch said in a statement.

The Pentagon released enhanced end-use monitoring guidance in December 2022. About $1.7 billion worth of equipment sent to Ukraine falls under these guidelines. The report found that $1 billion of this amount did not live up to these standards, with equipment not properly bar-code scanned and entered into the appropriate database within the required 90-day timeframe.

According to the Pentagon Inspector General, Defense Department compliance on tracking this equipment has improved, with delinquency falling by 27% from February to June 2023.

Still, the Inspector General report notes “significant personnel limitations and accountability challenges remain.”

It recommends the Defense Department improve inventory procedures for equipment that requires enhanced tracking and bettering “the accuracy and completeness” of its database, among other measures.

At the Pentagon press briefing Thursday, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said there were no credible signs American aid is being used illegally.

The Defense Department is taking steps to better track its equipment, include using handheld scanners to scan barcodes and working with partners to monitor inventory, Ryder said.

“The Ukrainians have offered unprecedented access to information as it relates to the equipment that we’re providing,” he said.

In addition, Ryder said the Pentagon continues to see Ukraine use American aid on the battlefield, despite Russian “disinformation to the contrary.”

The Inspector General report comes at a sensitive time for Ukraine, with the fate of continued U.S. assistance to the war-torn country uncertain.

President Joe Biden’s $61 billion request to Congress for additional military and economic support to Ukraine has stalled on Capitol Hill, with Republicans demanding a series of unrelated immigration policy changes to advance the package. The Pentagon notified Congress in December it is using the last $1 billion it has on hand to replenish U.S. equipment for Ukraine .

Congress has passed a cumulative $113 billion in Ukraine economic and security aid since Russia’s invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pushing for additional air defenses to ward off Russian missile barrages. He has previously told Congress Kyiv will lose the war without additional aid .

Bryant Harris is the Congress reporter for Defense News. He has covered U.S. foreign policy, national security, international affairs and politics in Washington since 2014. He has also written for Foreign Policy, Al-Monitor, Al Jazeera English and IPS News.

Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.

华盛顿——五角大楼监察长周四发布的一份报告显示，国防部没有完全遵守向乌克兰运送的价值约 10 亿美元的装备的强化跟踪要求。

大部分未妥善追踪的设备是夜视装置，但也包括无人机和导弹。报告并未发现任何美国设备被滥用或挪用的案例，正如五角大楼监察长罗伯特·斯托奇所指出的，此类评估“超出了本项目范围”。

斯托奇在一份声明中表示：“虽然对这种敏感设备进行清点的拖欠率已经显著改善，但我们在评估中发现的持续存在的差距可能与无法对这项关键的美国安全援助保持完全问责制有关。”

五角大楼于2022年12月发布了强化后的最终用户监控指南。运往乌克兰的价值约17亿美元的设备均受该指南约束。报告发现，其中10亿美元的设备不符合这些标准，未在规定的90天期限内正确扫描条形码并录入相应的数据库。

根据五角大楼监察长的说法，国防部在跟踪此类装备方面的合规性有所提高，2023 年 2 月至 6 月期间，违规率下降了 27%。

不过，监察长报告指出，“仍然存在严重的人员短缺和问责制方面的挑战”。

报告建议国防部改进需要加强跟踪的装备的库存程序，并提高其数据库的“准确性和完整性”，以及其他措施。

周四，在五角大楼的新闻发布会上，帕特·莱德少将表示，没有可信的迹象表明美国援助被非法使用。

莱德表示，国防部正在采取措施更好地追踪其装备，包括使用手持扫描仪扫描条形码，并与合作伙伴共同监控库存。

他说：“乌克兰方面为我们提供了前所未有的信息渠道，让我们能够获取与我们提供的设备相关的信息。”

此外，莱德表示，尽管俄罗斯散布“相反的虚假信息”，但五角大楼仍然看到乌克兰在战场上使用美国的援助。

监察长报告发布之际，正值乌克兰局势敏感时期，美国是否会继续援助这个饱受战争蹂躏的国家尚不明朗。

拜登总统向国会提出的向乌克兰提供610亿美元额外军事和经济援助的请求在国会山受阻，共和党人要求一系列与此无关的移民政策修改才能推进该方案。五角大楼在去年12月通知国会，将动用其剩余的10亿美元资金补充美国在乌克兰的军事装备。

自俄罗斯入侵乌克兰以来，美国国会已累计通过了1130亿美元的乌克兰经济和安全援助。

乌克兰总统泽连斯基正力促增设防空系统以抵御俄罗斯的导弹袭击。他此前曾向国会表示，如果没有更多援助，基辅将会输掉这场战争。

布莱恩特·哈里斯是《防务新闻》的国会记者。自2014年以来，他一直在华盛顿报道美国外交政策、国家安全、国际事务和政治。他还曾为《外交政策》、《Al-Monitor》、《半岛电视台英语频道》和IPS新闻撰稿。

诺亚·罗伯逊是《防务新闻》的五角大楼记者。他此前曾为《基督教科学箴言报》报道国家安全新闻。他拥有弗吉尼亚州威廉斯堡威廉与玛丽学院的英语和政治学学士学位。