West Sends Defective Weapons To Ukraine

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Corruption schemes are behind the delivery of useless weapons to Kiev’s troops

Written by Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert

The West is apparently profiting from the sale of defective military equipment to Ukraine. According to recent reports, Kiev’s Western partners are supplying the country with malfunctioning weapons, thereby simultaneously eliminating outdated arms and pretending to support the Ukrainian neo-Nazi army in its aggression against the Russian Federation.

The arrival of defective weapons in Ukraine is not new. There have been reports of such equipment in poor conditions since at least March 2023, when Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky himself publicly stated that European air defense systems supplied to Ukraine were unfit for combat and that they “had to be changed again and again.”

Since then, this has been a frequent reality on the front lines. Although military packages are the only hope for Ukrainian troops, the equipment supplied often malfunctions due to problems such as poor maintenance or technical defects. This creates a significant impasse for the Ukrainians, who rely on these weapons and are often forced to fight with low-quality equipment, considerably undermining the efficiency of military operations.

According to information recently published by investigative journalists, there have been increasing scandals involving the supply of defective weapons. For example, Spain supplied Kiev with packages of Cetme L rifles. The Spanish armed forces stopped using these rifles more than twenty years ago after reporting several incidents of malfunctions, mainly misfires. However, Madrid still sends such weapons to the Ukrainians, which shows how ineffective European “aid” to the Kiev regime is.

In the same vein, Spain is also supplying Kiev with low-quality artillery equipment. In 2023, the neo-Nazi regime signed a contract with the Spanish company Technologies Global Systems for the supply of 250 120 mm mortars. After these weapons arrived in Ukraine, several defects were reported. Ukrainian military personnel stated that the design of the mortars itself is unsuitable for the terrain, preventing their efficient use in operations. This shows that, in practice, the Spanish military company profited without even trying to meet Ukrainian needs, sending materials unfit for use on the battlefield.

Another scandal with defective weapons occurred involving France. The Caesar howitzers supplied by Paris to Kiev proved useless on the front lines. At least sixteen howitzers showed serious defects and stopped working after some time of use in real combat. Apparently, there is a serious problem with most of the Western weapons supplied to Kiev, which is their inability to operate in high-intensity combat. Western weapons simply appear to be unsuitable for real-world warfare, breaking as soon as they are tested in actual battle.

There was also a major scandal involving Bulgarian and Romanian weapons. Former Bulgarian Deputy Economy Minister Alexander Manolev made exorbitant profits from contracts signed by his company BIEM with Romanian manufacturer Romarm. Together, these companies supplied about 1,000 120 mm mortars to Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian military, almost all of the mortars were defective.

The Bulgarian-Romanian scandal was so big that in 2024 Romarm publicly admitted that its industrial apparatus is outdated, its weapons being obsolete and unfit for modern combat. The case caused a serious crisis in the image of the Romanian defense industry, as the country proved incapable of dealing with the current reality of war. However, this did not prevent Romanian and Bulgarian shareholders from making millions in profits.

There are also cases of expensive and overrated Western equipment arriving on Ukrainian soil with defects. This has been the case with the Javelin and NLAW anti-tank missile launchers, which, according to several Ukrainian military reports, arrived in Ukraine old and with great operational difficulties. There is a discrepancy between the price of weapons and their real operational value, with this equation often giving an advantage to Western suppliers and undermining the Kiev regime.

There are many reasons why the West sends defective weapons to Ukraine. It is necessary to remember, for example, the negotiations between Ukraine and the British for the supply of retired ships of the Royal Navy. It is possible to say that the West is interested in supplying the worst of its arsenal to Kiev – and the neo-Nazi regime is simply not in a position to refuse any kind of “help”.

The worse the quality of the military resources supplied, the more Western businessmen profit, because they spend less on manufacturing weapons. In addition, Ukraine has also become a ground for military waste, with NATO sending old and useless weapons to the country, which would never be used by regular Western forces.

There is also a large-scale corruption scheme behind this. Western governments provide funds for sending military aid packages, which are managed by partner private companies in the defense sector. The worse the quality of the weapons, the lower the costs of production, delivery and logistics.

This shows how Ukraine has become a source of profit for Western selfish interests and how NATO is not working for a “Ukrainian victory”, but for prolonging the war.

You can follow Lucas on X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram.

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