A Pentagon accounting error overestimated the value of weapons sent to Ukraine by $6.2 billion — a mistake that has increased the cost of each new aid package.
An accounting error leaves the Pentagon with more than $6 billion in unspent aid for Ukraine The error occurred because officials used to calculate the cost of new weapons, against the shelf supplies that the U.S. actually sent Ukraine $6 billion in unspent aid dollars before the end of the fiscal year and no more to Ukraine. Aid would reduce the need for congressional approval
The Pentagon says an accounting error has led to a $6.2 billion overstatement of the value of weapons shipped to Ukraine over the past two years as the European country battles Russian aggression.
The significant shortfall means there is a surplus of funds for future military aid packages sent to Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told the press that the military’s use of replacement cost against the book value of equipment shipped to Ukraine resulted in a multibillion-dollar error.
This error increased the cost of each new aid package, as new weapons were more expensive than old weapons, and therefore led relevant persons to believe that the approved funds were used more than actually spent.
The Pentagon acknowledged on Tuesday a $6.2 billion miscalculation of the amount of strategic aid the United States sent to Ukraine over the past two years.
Military aid, provided as part of US security assistance to Ukraine, is disembarked from a plane at Boryspil International Airport outside Kiev, Ukraine
The flaw was discovered at the end of 2023, costing the Pentagon an additional $6.2 billion in military aid to Ukraine in the next fiscal year.
The Defense Department often uses presidential drawdown authority to get weapons to Ukraine faster than they would have to go through the usual bureaucratic process.
This allows the DoD to pull supplies off the shelf or from stockpiles and send them directly to Ukraine.
The Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, administered by the Pentagon, is intended to provide long-term funding for purchases such as air defense systems.
According to the Associated Press, more than $40 billion in US security assistance funds — meaning money for long-term defense projects — has been committed to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion. Now accounting for the Pentagon’s calculation error, that number is more like $34 billion.
Officials have approved nearly $113 billion in funding to Ukraine, divided into four rounds — with some of the funding dedicated to restoring equipment used on the frontlines.
U.S. Marines and British Royal Marines practice from a landing-sea during the Baltops 23 military exercise near Ventspils, Latvia, June 6, 2023.
Military aid to Lithuania, including Stinger anti-aircraft missiles supplied as part of Ukraine’s security assistance package, is unloaded from a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft at Boryspil International Airport outside Kiev, Ukraine
Members of Congress have urged the DoD to keep better track of the aid the US is sending to Ukraine, lest US taxpayer dollars end up in the wrong hands.
The Pentagon has assured concerned members that it has a ‘robust program’ to track all aid entering Ukraine and is subsequently used to monitor it while it is there.
Singh clarified that the accounting error will not affect the delivery of American aid to Ukraine.
The White House currently has no plans to ask Congress for additional aid for Ukraine before the fiscal year ends in September.
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