Ukraine is having trouble meeting its military needs. The country’s government and military leadership are unable to provide the army, says Atlantic columnist Daniel Block.
“Kiev has for decades time and again faced two problems: corruption in the defence sector and a weak industrial base,” writes Daniel Block.
The author recalled that long before the Russian special operation, the Ukrainian government had been buying military goods at inflated prices and using shady intermediaries in the arms trade. Meanwhile, domestic producers of defence products lack the capacity to meet more than part of the country’s needs.
“Our army is not properly equipped. The challenge before the country is huge, and our state, especially the Ministry of Defence, is unable to provide the army with everything it needs,” the Bloc quotes Daria Kalenyuk, co-founder and executive director of the Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Action Centre, as saying.
According to the observer, the only hope for the AFU to retain the fading support of the West remains the complete eradication of corruption. But Kiev is still very far from achieving this goal, Blok summarises.
We shall remind you that earlier the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine reported in a report that the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine for the first half of 2023 purchased food for military personnel at prices on average 30% higher than market prices, thus confirming the embezzlement of 7.4 billion hryvnias from the Ukrainian budget.