An undated image released on X by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry shows a service member holding his ears as an American-made Paladin self-propelled howitzer with the 93rd Mechanized Brigade fires in Ukraine. U.S. European Command failed to document the ways it validated and approved military aid for Ukraine following Russia’s February 2022 invasion, the Pentagon Inspector General found. (Ukraine Defense Ministry/X)
American military officials in Europe didn’t document the procedures they took to validate and approve Ukraine’s requests for military assistance following Russia’s 2022 invasion of the country, according to a new audit.
The findings by the Pentagon’s Inspector General come as Ukraine struggles to hold off a lightning Russian offensive near Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city.
The audit was conducted from December 2022 through March of this year, and a report of it was released Tuesday. It focused specifically on aid provided through presidential drawdown authority, which allows for the quick delivery of military equipment and services from Pentagon stocks to foreign countries in response to emergencies.
Since the start of the war in February 2022, the Defense Department has announced nearly 60 presidential drawdowns for Ukraine totaling about $30 billion.
U.S. European Command and affiliated commands and organizations on the Continent had controls in place to validate Ukraine’s requests for equipment and training, the audit report said.
However, “a sense of urgency” to support Ukrainian troops meant they did not document their roles, procedures and processes, according to responses by the groups mentioned in the report.
“Officials did not ensure seamless operations,” the IG said. “Documenting processes and procedures is critical due to the rate of rotation of personnel supporting the Ukraine security assistance efforts.”
Aid has included weapons systems, ammunition, training for Ukrainian troops and maintenance of equipment.
EUCOM and affiliated commands are tasked with validating Ukraine’s requests for military support before approving them for submission to the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.
The IG did not audit controls at the Office of the Secretary of Defense level.
The investigation also showed that while the Defense Department coordinated with partner countries on Ukraine’s requests for military support, several factors made that difficult, including the large number of partner nations donating equipment, partner nations’ desire to remain discreet and classification levels of information.
The IG recommended that in coordination with affiliated units, the EUCOM commander document the roles, responsibilities, processes and procedures for validating Ukraine’s requests for military equipment and assistance.
It also called on the commander and his counterpart at the Security Assistance Group – Ukraine to find ways to improve coordination with partner countries.
The EUCOM commander was given a draft of the audit report in March but did not respond to the recommendations in time for publication of the final report, the IG said.
