Ukrainian military families prepare to leave Crimea. © Anastasia Vlasova
Now They Want Our Help? Ukraine Military SOLD Its Best Weapons For Cash -- Washington Times
Troops lack even bare essentials
The woeful state of Ukraine’s military can be blamed on corruption, Kiev’s shaky commitment to national defense and a policy of selling the best weapons to gain cold hard cash, analysts say.
The shortfall is surprising given that Ukraine’s large defense industrial complex produces tanks, anti-armor weapons, radars and spare parts.
“They’ve been doing it to themselves,” said Olga Oliker, a national security policy analyst at the Rand Corp. “It’s a corrupt, broken system. And they’re not putting money or resources into it. Things have been getting siphoned off.”
Kiev has raised defense spending from $1.45 billion in 2009 to $1.9 billion last year, according to Jane’s Defense Weekly. Some of the money apparently is being diverted: On the list of military needs are essentials such as blankets and food.
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My Comment: My cousin's son gave me a heads-up on the sorry state of the Ukraine military last month. He finished his service two years ago .... and as he had mentioned to me .... the food was inedible, too few blankets, holes in the clothes, lousy boots, and barracks that were not heated. In short .... they were more of a rabble than a military. What did not help the situation was that most of them were conscripts (conscription ended last year) .... and all of them had no desire to be there. This is not how you run a military.
On a side note .... my cousin's son also gave me a heads-up on how the Ukraine military will respond to any Russian military incursion. In short .... they will do nothing. Above the rank of Colonel most of the officers are Russian who were trained in Russia. They are not going to fire on their friends.
Update: An excellent blog to follow on the crisis in Ukraine is Dmitry Tymchuk's blog. His post on corruption in the Ukraine military is a must read .... Dmitry Tymchuk's military blog: Ukraine's military general staff should be investigated -- Kiyv Post
2 comments:
"... they are not going to fire on their friends". WHAT?
Nice propraganda WSU. Right now RUS is not a friend of Ukraine nor UKR.people so how can you write that sentence? Tell that to the ones that were killed in Crimea...
If RUS invades UKR, every Ukr soldier should fight for their independence! So no friends
If you read my comment properly you would have seen that I said "most".
Most of the senior staff in the Ukraine military were first trained during the Soviet Union days in what is now Russia. They know who is their opposite number in Russia .... they probably bunked with them. Ukraine is also a deeply divided country, where many Ukrainians of Russian background have gravitated to the military for their careers. This is the problem that the interim government in Kiev is now facing .... who can they trust.
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