Russian propaganda keeps spreading fakes about Western arms sales to third countries by Ukraine

In an interview with one of the Russian state news agencies, "DPR" leader Denis Pushilin said that Ukraine resells the weapons it receives from Western partners on the black market.

The statement made by Pushilin is fake.

First, the United States confirmed that there are no signs of Ukraine handing over weapons to third countries. This was recently stated by Pentagon Press Secretary Patrick Ryder.

"At this point, we have no credible information that would indicate that there's been any diversion of Ukrainian assistance into illicit means," noted the official representative of the U.S. Department of Defense.

He also emphasized that the results on the battlefield speak for themselves.

Second, Ukrainian representatives also denied this information. In a comment to Ukrinform, State Concern "Ukroboronprom" Spokesperson Natalia Sad said that the information about the transfer of weapons by Ukraine to third countries is complete nonsense. She added that Ukraine itself needs weapons and any changes on the battlefield depend not only on Ukrainian service members but also on the saturation of the army with weapons.

"What we are producing, repairing, delivering from abroad, and receiving within the framework of international technical assistance is not yet enough to reach a turning point in the course of this war," Sad explained.

In addition, she emphasized that the State Concern "Ukroboronprom" has stopped the execution of any export contracts since the beginning of the full-scale war, and the Ukrainian defense industry works exclusively towards strengthening Ukraine's defense capabilities.

"When it comes to international logistical assistance or what we receive from our Western partners, it all goes to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Moreover, there are also control tools. In Ukraine, a temporary special commission of the Verkhovna Rada was established to monitor the receipt and use of weapons provided to Ukraine by international partners during martial law," she said.

Earlier it became known that the commission would be tasked to prepare and submit for consideration to the Parliament the legislative initiatives on the creation of a model of parliamentary control over the use of international logistical assistance.

Apart from the parliamentary mechanism of control over incoming weapons, there are also other tools. In a comment to Ukrinform, Serhii Omelchenko, adviser to the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, former first deputy director general of Ukroboronprom, said that Ukraine, together with the United States and Great Britain, uses logistics software that tracks every incoming weapon sample.

"The channels through which weapons arrive, the place where they are delivered, where they are stored, and where they are used are controlled," he told Ukrinform.

Omelchenko added that the EU is also creating arms control mechanisms, and Ukraine and its partners closely follow all types of weapons and ammunition sent.

As the adviser to the NSDC Secretary noted, Russia’s statements on the sale of Western weapons by Ukraine are a clearly targeted information operation.

"They promote this narrative not for the first time, but there have been no confirmations of this information, and it is always denied," he emphasized.

Earlier, VoxCheck already analyzed in detail the arms sales disinformation campaign launched early April with the use of foreign media outlets. Further outbreaks were noticed later. Already at the beginning of December, Russia’s Permanent Representative to UN Nebenzia raised the topic at the UN Security Council meeting. Propagandists present the countries of Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, as well as "DPR" and ISIS fighters to be the buyers of Western weapons arriving in Ukraine.

As reported, the European Commission refuted Russian fakes about the "sale" of Western weapons by Ukraine and reported the existence of powerful guarantees and mechanisms to ensure that exported military equipment and weapons are not used in violation of humanitarian and international law.

Dmytro Badrak