Pentagon: US troops tracking American-supplied military equipment in Ukraine

The Pentagon says US troops are inspecting stocks of American-supplied military equipment in Ukraine as part of efforts to keep track of gear supplied to the country’s forces.

The United States has committed nearly $18 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched a military operation in February, and the Pentagon claims it wants to make sure the military aid is not misused, AFP reported.

"A small team comprised of US Embassy Kiev -- Office of the Defense Attache personnel have conducted multiple inspections of US security assistance deliveries within the last couple months at locations in Ukraine," spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said in a statement on Thursday. 

"These locations are not near the frontlines of Russia's war against Ukraine," Ryder said, adding that the "inspections are not reactive -- we have no evidence of widespread diversion of US security assistance in Ukraine."

A senior US military official earlier in the week said the tracking starts with comprehensive records of donations before weapons are handed over.

Ukraine then tracks "security assistance from the border logistics hubs to the front line," and also "provides expenditure and damage reports to capture losses," the official said.

US personnel are conducting inspections "wherever the security conditions allow," the officials said.

The US State Department said last week that captured weapons pose the primary threat.

Meanwhile, according to a report, the United States has managed to conduct in-person inspections for only about 10 percent of the weapons it provided for Ukraine, weapons that require special oversight amid the conflict in the country.

Citing US officials, The Washington Post reported that US officials have been able to conduct just two in-person inspections of the 22,000 US-provided weapons sent to Ukraine, since the conflict with Russia began in late February.

Officials told the Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity, that they can only hope to achieve a “reasonable” level of compliance with US oversight rules.

The US-provided weapons systems – including Stinger and Javelin missiles – need to be tracked once they enter Ukraine, the report said.

US struggling to track weapons supplied to Ukraine: Report

The US have managed to conduct in-person inspections for only about 10 percent of the weapons it provided for Ukraine, a reports says.

Without the verification, the US is relying on Ukraine to scan arms packages and send a record of their serial numbers to Washington.

For smaller items such as rifles and body armor, a single American official in Poland signs off on all transfers to Ukraine.

Larger weapons systems, such as HIMARS rocket artillery platforms (The High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) and M777 howitzers, are not subject to inspections.

US authorities have acknowledged that when the war erupted in Ukraine, they had no blueprint for tracking weapons in Ukraine.

The report came a day after the Pentagon said it was sending weapons experts to Ukraine to inspect US-provided arms in the country.

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