Why military aid to Ukraine doesn't always reach the front lines

Editor's Note: This article reflects changes Updated for CBS Reports The documentary "Armed Ukraine" has also been updated since it was filmed. Jonas Ohman said delivery has improved significantly since filming for CBS in late April. I'm here. The Ukrainian government notes that US Defense Officer Brigadier General Garik M. Harmon arrived in Kyiv for his August 2022 arms control and surveillance.

In a war largely fought in World War II-era trenches and using Soviet munitions, vast amounts of modern NATO weapons and military materiel from the West entered Ukraine. Influx proved to be one of the greatest determinants of war. Territory lost or gained along the Ukrainian border with Russia. 

Most of these weapons and military materiel are headed for the Polish border, where the United States and her NATO allies will quickly cross the border into the hands of Ukrainian authorities. 

Jonas Ohman is the founder and CEO of the Lithuanian-based organization Blue-Yellow, a frontline force to supply non-lethal weapons. Military aid to Ukraine has been critical since the conflict with the Russian-backed separatists began in 2014. Back in April, he said that "30-40%" of supplies arriving across the border estimated to have reached its final destination. However, he says the situation has improved significantly since then, and that much larger quantities are now getting where they should be.

It notes that Brigadier General Garik M. Harmon arrived in Kyiv in August 2022 for arms control and surveillance. CBS News asked his Harmon for an interview.

The United States has pledged more than $23 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the war began in late February, says the Kiel Institute. The global economy tracking global commitments of aid to Ukraine. The UK contributed her $3.7 billion, Germany her $1.4 billion and Poland her $1.8 billion, followed by several other countries.

Ukraine's ever-changing frontline and the combination of mostly volunteers and paramilitary forces for those seeking to navigate dangerous supply lines to their destinations where it is difficult to provide military aid. Some have expressed concern that weapons are falling on the black market in Ukraine, which has thrived on corruption since the collapse of the Soviet Union. We rely heavily on unofficial channels to deliver supplies, from scopes and radios to Kevlar vests, ballistic helmets, and modern drones. Sky to break the stalemate on the battlefield. His group's status as an NGO does not allow him to deliver "lethal weapons."

"There are people in power, oligarchs, politicians," Orman said in April, saying he had to work. described the corruption and bureaucracy that had to be done around it. "The system itself is like, 'We are the Ukrainian military. If the security forces want it, well, that's what the Americans gave us.'" It's kind of like a power game.

Andy Milburn is a retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel who has served in Iraq and Somalia and has recently served on the front lines. Founded the Mozart Group, a company dedicated to training Ukrainian soldiers. He traveled to Ukraine after the Russian invasion and set up a base in the capital, Kyiv. 

``If you want to provide goods and logistics pipelines, you need some kind of organization, right? It's not that everything hasn't gotten where it needs to go, it's that people actually expected it," said Milburn. 

If it is to help Ukraine in its defense against the Russian Federation, you can't do anything half-hearted, you can't create an artificial demarcation line, I understand that, the US military with the Russians I mean not fighting. I understand that not even the US military is crossing the border. But why not at least put someone overseeing the country. 

In July, Ambassador Bonnie Dennis Jenkins, U.S. Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, said the State Department "The potential for illegal diversion of weapons is among many political, military and human rights considerations," she said.

We are confident in the Ukrainian government's commitment to adequately protect and hold it accountable," he added. 

Ukraine has created a temporary task force to track arms flows in the country. Still, weapons experts say they've seen situations like this before. 

“Countries and situations vary greatly, but in retrospect, Iraq is certainly another country with cyclical supplies. Led the invasion of Iraq, in 2014 ISIS took over large parts of the country and deprived it of a large stockpile of weapons intended for the Iraqi army." Violations in Ukraine .

"Just recently I saw the same situation in Afghanistan," she said of the US withdrawal and the Taliban's takeover of the country. "To avoid that, we need to have surveillance mechanisms in place." ``That's one of the reasons she has to win the war,'' Orman said. “If we lose a war, if we have this kind of gray zone, half-failure scenario, or something like that.