Ming Inspector 丨 Zheng Shujing
At a glance
According to CBS reports, the relevant hint that "only about 30% of the weapons shipped by Western countries to Ukraine actually reached the Ukrainian front" and that "the rest of the weapons may have flowed into the black market" is misleading. The blue and yellow organization concerned has clarified that the CBS's original report departed from the context of respondents' overall assessment of the efficiency of Western aid efforts at the time, implying that weapons that did not reach their destinations were "sold on the black market" and were "taken out of context." CBS has now revised its coverage.
According to Spravdi, a strategic communication center under the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, Ukrainian officials regard the whereabouts of Weapons Aided by Western Countries as military secrets and have never made relevant data public.
Event background
It has been nearly half a year since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and there have been continuous news of European and American countries providing military assistance to Ukraine.
Chinese Network recently reported that a CBS news report showed that only about 30% of the weapons shipped by Western countries to Ukraine actually reached the Ukrainian front, and used relevant descriptions such as "the front is tight, the rear is tight" and "it is like falling into a big black hole".
Mingcha
Where does the message originate?
A CBS report was quoted in the web transmission. Search the CBS website for "Ukrainian military aid" and you can indeed find a report updated on August 7 titled "Why Military Aid in Ukraine Doesn't Necessarily Reach the Front."
Screenshot of the CBS web page.
The "Editor's Note" at the beginning of the report shows that the article, which is now published on the CBS website, has been modified and is not the original version. Through the Wayback Machine archiving tool, it can be found that the original report was published as early as August 4, when the headline "Why Military Aid to Ukraine Doesn't Always Reach the Front?" "Only 30% of aid reaches the final destination".
The original version was released on August 4.
In its initial report, CBS wrote that since 2014, when pro-Russian forces in eastern and southern Ukraine clashed with Ukrainian government forces, Lithuania-based Blue and Yellow founder Jonas Ohman has been meeting with and providing military assistance to Ukraine's front-line forces. "After these things cross the border, something happens, almost (only) 30 percent of the stuff reaches their final destination," Orman said. ”
The report then cited some data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy to illustrate the volume of military aid promised to Ukraine by various countries, and then took a sharp turn, saying that "Ukraine's changing fronts, combined with its mainly volunteer and paramilitary forces, make it difficult to deliver military aid to those trying to reach their destinations through dangerous supply lines." Some have raised concerns that weapons have fallen into the black market in Ukraine, which has prospered by corruption since the collapse of the Soviet Union," suggesting that weapons that did not reach their destination may have been sent to the black market.
How much weapons assistance has Ukraine received?
According to a Report published by Al Jazeera on June 15, Ukraine has received billions of dollars worth of weapons and military equipment from at least 28 countries since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Countries providing military assistance to Ukraine include: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, czech republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States. In addition, Japan and Ireland have provided assistance to Ukraine with non-lethal weapons and fuel.
In terms of types of weapons, weapons shipped to Ukraine include, but are not limited to, various types of artillery, anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons, armored vehicles, reconnaissance and attack drones, helicopters, and various types of submachine guns, rifles, sniper rifles and other small arms. Among them, the United States, as the main force in the weapons aid to Ukraine, has pledged in June to issue the eleventh batch of defense stockpile weapons assistance to Ukraine, including high-mobility artillery rocket systems and ammunition, 5 anti-artillery radars, 2 aerial surveillance radars, 1,000 javelins and 50 command launchers, 6,000 anti-armor weapons, 15,000 155 mm artillery shells, 4 Mi-17 helicopters, 15 tactical vehicles and related accessories and equipment.
Types of military weapons received by Ukraine. Image source: Al Jazeera.
From January 24 to July 1, 41 entities, including the United States and the European Union, provided military, financial or humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, with reference to data updated by the Kiel Institute for The World Economy in July. Among them, the amount of military assistance promised by the United States is the most significant, reaching about 23.8 billion euros (equivalent to about 164.628 billion yuan). At the same time, however, the agency noted that there is still a big discrepancy between the aid that these countries have committed to Ukraine and the aid that Ukraine actually receives.
Kiel Institute for the World Economy released data on the amount of aid to Ukraine by various countries.
On Aug. 11, Reuters reported that Danish Defense Minister Morten Bodskov said at a meeting on the day that 26 Western countries had pledged to provide more than 1.5 billion euros ($1.55 billion) in cash, equipment and training to improve Ukraine's military capabilities in the war against Russia.
Aiding Ukrainian weapons into the black market?
First of all, the idea that ukrainian weapons may flow into the black market is not out of thin air. For example, a June 9 article by the technology news site blendingcomputer revealed that some allegedly published by Ukrainians circulated in some dark-web arms markets, and the sellers said that the guns were "idle" materials in Western countries' weapons aiding Ukraine and were willing to be delivered inside Ukraine. The author of the article believes that the credibility of these lists of firearms and the prices they sell is relatively high, but it cannot be ruled out that other parties are deliberately releasing relevant news to guide public opinion.
An article published in June by bleepingcomputer said there were Western arms sales on the dark web.
Image credit: bleepingcomputer
At the same time, since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, some videos of true and false have been circulated on social platforms, showing some Ukrainian soldiers selling artillery, armored vehicles and other military supplies.
A report published in the Financial Times in July said NATO and EU countries were pushing for a broader monitoring and tracking system for weapons aid to Ukraine in response to concerns about criminal groups smuggling weapons out of the country and into the European black market. This shows from the side that Western countries do not have a clear answer to where the weapons supplied to Ukraine have gone.
However, the possibility of Western countries aiding Ukrainian weapons entering the black market is not directly related to the CBS report's claim that "only about 30% of the aid reached the final destination" provided by the "Blue and Yellow" group. On August 7, blue and yellow issued a statement on its official Facebook homepage, saying that CBS reports were suspected of being "taken out of context." The organization said:
"In the CBS documentary 'Armed Ukraine,' the nonprofit 'Blue And Yellow' and its work in Ukraine were filmed as part of the coverage, about 8 weeks after the start of the war. The organization's work on the front lines is accurately described, giving the audience a good idea of the nature of the support provided to the Ukrainian armed forces.
At the same time, there is a parallel story line in the report, that is, whether the West's arms support for Ukraine can be justified. A number of people from other organizations who had no connection to Blue and Yellow and its work were interviewed and offered their views on the matter. While this is a relevant and important topic, the description of the situation in the report is somewhat taken out of context. Footage for the report was filmed in early May, about two months after the start of the war. The film's statements about Western aid must be placed within this time frame. For example, the reference in the commentary to '30 percent of weapons reaching the front line' refers to the overall blue-and-yellow assessment of the effectiveness of Western aid efforts at the time. This is by no means to say that these military aid were 'sold on the black market' or 'stolen'. ”
Screenshot of the "Blue and Yellow" organization statement.
In an August 7 update, CBS has made changes to some of its content involving Blue and Yellow, saying that "in April of this year, Auman estimated that only '30-40 percent' of the cross-border supplies aided Ukraine eventually reached their destinations." But the situation has improved significantly since then, and more supplies are now reaching where it is supposed to go. ”
At present, reliable data on how many of the weapons in Ukraine have reached their final destinations cannot be found in public channels. According to Spravdi, a strategic communication center under the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, Ukrainian officials regard the whereabouts of Weapons Aided by Western Countries as military secrets and have never made relevant data public.
In summary, according to CBS reports, only about 30% of the weapons shipped to Ukraine by Western countries actually reached the Ukrainian front, and the hint that the rest of the weapons may have flowed into the black market is misleading. The blue and yellow organization concerned has clarified that the CBS's original report departed from the context of respondents' overall assessment of the efficiency of Western aid efforts at the time, implying that weapons that did not reach their destinations were "sold on the black market" and were "taken out of context." CBS has now revised its coverage.