Criminals, volunteers and arms dealers from Ukraine last year stole some of the weapons and equipment provided by the West and intended for Ukrainian forces, but they were eventually recovered, according to a report by the inspector general of the Ministry of Defense obtained by CNN, writes News.ro.

According to a report obtained by CNN, Ukrainian intelligence warned of plots to steal weapons and equipment, and the shipments were eventually seized.

The inspector general’s report noted that since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, the Defense Department’s ability to track and control all U.S. equipment entering Ukraine, as required by the Arms Export Control Act, has faced “challenges” due to the limited U.S. presence in the country.

According to the report, which analyzed the period from February to September 2022, the Office of Defense Cooperation in Kyiv (ODC-Kyiv) “failed to conduct the necessary monitoring of (end-use) military equipment that the United States provided to Ukraine in fiscal year 2022.”

“The inability of the personnel of the Ministry of Defense (the Ministry of Defense – no) to visit the territories where the equipment that was supplied to Ukraine was used or stored significantly hindered the ability of the ODC-Kyiv to carry out” monitoring, the document says.

USA, aware of the risk of capture and illegal use of these weapons

The report is dated October 6, 2022. At the end of October, the United States resumed on-site inspections of Ukrainian weapons depots to better track where equipment is going. The department also provided the Ukrainians with tracking systems, including scanners and software, former Pentagon undersecretary for defense policy Colin Kahl told a congressional hearing in February.

But the report highlights how difficult it was for the US in the early days of the war to track the billions of dollars worth of weapons and equipment it was sending to Ukraine.

“The US government remains acutely aware of the risk of possible misappropriation and is taking proactive measures to mitigate this risk in close cooperation with the government of Ukraine. We are aware that we are sending weapons to help Ukraine defend itself in an active conflict, and there is a risk that these weapons could be seized if the territory falls into someone’s hands – which happens in any war,” the State Department spokesman commented.

Republicans have criticized the Biden administration for what they see as a lack of oversight over billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine. Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy said earlier this year that he supports Ukraine, but does not “support a blank check.” Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, shared the same opinion.

In April 2022, CNN reported that the Biden administration was willing to take the risk of losing weapons supplied to Ukraine because it considered them necessary for Ukraine to defeat Russian forces.

US European Command tried to mitigate the problem last year by requesting and retaining receipts from Ukrainians who had made a “good faith effort” to provide them, the report said, citing EUCOM personnel.

The Office of Defense Cooperation in Kyiv also asked the Ukrainian government to provide reports on spending, loss, and damage to US-provided equipment, and Ukrainian authorities “made efforts to prevent the illicit distribution of US-provided defense materials.”

What weapons were stolen and by whom

However, criminal organizations have managed to steal some of the weapons and equipment provided by the US and its allies, the report said.

In late June 2022, an organized crime group led by an unnamed Russian official joined the volunteer battalion using false documents and stole weapons, including a grenade launcher and a machine gun, as well as more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, the report said. The special services of Ukraine revealed the conspiracy, the report says.

In the same month, Ukrainian intelligence services also thwarted a plot by arms dealers who tried to sell weapons and ammunition stolen from the front line in southern Ukraine, and another plot by Ukrainian criminals posing as aid workers to steal $17,000 worth of body armor, the report said.

And in August 2022, Ukrainian special services exposed a group of volunteer battalion fighters who stole 60 rifles and almost 1,000 cartridges and took them to a warehouse, “probably for sale on the black market.”

The report does not specify whether the weapons and equipment were American, but the facts are given in a redacted section dealing with Ukraine’s pursuit of US-supplied weapons.

The Pentagon’s inspector general wrote that some larger objects, such as missiles and helicopters, are easier to track with intelligence mechanisms. However, smaller items such as night vision devices were more difficult to control.

Ultimately, the report made no recommendations, noting that the Defense Department “has made efforts to reduce the inability to conduct personal monitoring.”