The Pentagon announced Tuesday that an accounting error meant it had overestimated the cost of weapons and ammunition sent to Ukraine in the past two years, creating a $6.2 billion surplus that can be used for future assistance.
Spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said a review of the accounting error found that the military used replacement costs rather than the book value of equipment that was pulled from Department of Defense stocks and sent to Ukraine.
She said final calculations show there was an error of $3.6 billion in the current fiscal year and $2.6 billion in the 2022 fiscal year, which ended last Sept. 30.
As a result, the department now has additional money in its coffers to use to support Ukraine as it pursues its counteroffensive against Russia.
And it come as the fiscal year is wrapping up and congressional funding was beginning to dwindle.
Ukrainian servicemen fire a M777 howitzer at Russian positions near Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The M777s were supplied by the US
Ukrainian servicemen prepare to fire towards Russian positions with a 155mm M777 Howitzer artillery weapon on the front line somewhere near the city of Bakhmut on March 11, 2023 amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine
‘It’s just going to go back into the pot of money that we have allocated’ for the future stock drawdowns, said Singh.
The revelation comes as Ukraine moves ahead with the early stages of its counteroffensive, in an effort to dislodge the Kremlin’s forces from territory they’ve occupied since a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The counteroffensive has come up against heavily mined terrain and reinforced defensive fortifications, according to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces.
Russia, meanwhile, has been bombarding the Kyiv region with dozens of Shahed exploding drones, in an assault that has exposed gaps in the country’s air protection after almost 16 months of war. Officials said Ukrainian air defenses downed 32 of 35 drones that were launched by Russia early Tuesday.
The Pentagon has repeatedly used presidential drawdown authority to pull weapons, ammunition and other equipment off the shelves, so that it can get to Ukraine far more quickly than going through a purchase process.
Based on previous estimates announced June 13, the U.S. had committed more than $40 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded. Using the new calculation, the U.S. has actually provided less than $34 billion in aid.
Officials have not been able to give exact totals for the amount of money that remains for the drawdowns or for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which provides longer-term funding to purchase weapons, including some of the larger air defense systems.
The U.S. has approved four rounds of aid to Ukraine in response to Russia’s invasion, totaling about $113 billion, with some of that money going toward replenishment of U.S. military equipment that was sent to the frontlines. Congress approved the latest round of aid in December, totaling roughly $45 billion for Ukraine and NATO allies. While the package was designed to last through the end of the fiscal year in September, much depends upon events on the ground, particularly as the new counteroffensive ramps up.
Spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said a review of the accounting error found that the military used replacement costs rather than the book value of equipment that was pulled from Department of Defense stocks and sent to Ukraine
President Joe Biden and his senior national security leaders have repeatedly stated that the United States will help Ukraine ‘as long as it takes’ to repel the Russian forces. Privately, administration officials have warned Ukrainian officials that there is a limit to the patience of a narrowly divided Congress — and American public — for the costs of a war with no clear end.
Members of Congress have repeatedly pressed Defense Department leaders on how closely the U.S. is tracking its aid to Ukraine to ensure that it is not subject to fraud or ending up in the wrong hands. The Pentagon has said it has a “robust program” to track the aid as it crosses the border into Ukraine and to keep tabs on it once it is there, depending on the sensitivity of each weapons system.
Singh said the accounting mistake won’t affect the ongoing delivery of aid to Ukraine.
The error was first revealed last month. Although it was initially calculated at $3 billion, it triggered Republican anger.
‘These funds could have been used for extra supplies and weapons for the upcoming counteroffensive, instead of rationing funds to last for the remainder of the fiscal year,’ said House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul and House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers.
They called on the Biden administration to make up for lost time in supplying Ukraine with weapons.