US Department of Defence Inspector Robert Storch Begins Oversight of Weapons Provided to Ukraine

U.S. Department of Defense Inspector General Robert Storch begins monitoring the aid provided to Ukraine. The appointment of Storch as the head of a new enhanced group for monitoring arms, equipment, and technologies transferred by the US to Ukraine came into effect on October 18.

This was reported by the official page of the Office of the Inspector General of the Ministry of Defense.

According to the report, the main task of the Inspector is to closely cooperate with other supervisory offices and partners of the Chief Inspector - offices of the State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) - to ensure comprehensive and effective oversight of the broader US response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine under Operation Atlantic Resolve.

Operation Atlantic Resolve began in 2014 after the United States directed its efforts to strengthen the North Atlantic Alliance in response to Russia's armed aggression in Ukraine, including the occupation of Crimea and parts of the eastern regions of the country.

After Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United States expanded its mission, and Congress allocated $113 billion for security, economic, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and other countries affected by the war.

"The selection of the OIG DOD USA as the lead Inspector General of Operation Atlantic Resolve reflects our unwavering commitment to transparent and comprehensive oversight of security assistance from the DOD USA in the European Command's area of responsibility, including Ukraine and its surroundings. Our organization has served as the lead IG in eight foreign extraordinary operations, and we are well prepared for this new task," Storch said.

Previously, The Gaze wrote that despite numerous false accusations by Russian propaganda, none of the claims of uncontrolled distribution of weapons provided to Ukraine had been confirmed by facts.

It should be noted that there are several separate special monitoring and control systems for Western weapons supplied to Ukraine, including the information and analytical system "SOTA," which allows monitoring new arms deliveries in accordance with current statuses. Also, NATO's logistics system - LOGFAS, to which Ukraine has access.

At the same time, international partners have full access to check the effectiveness of the use of their weapons in Ukraine. The logistics organization for military assistance to Ukraine, communication between military partner countries, and monitoring are handled by the Control Center based in the European Command of the US Armed Forces (EUCOM Control Center of Ukraine, ECCU), located in Stuttgart. The Center, which was created following the meeting of defense ministers from 42 countries in Ramstein, is staffed by representatives of Ukraine and 15 donor states.

In Ukraine, monitoring missions with the involvement of partner countries regularly work to perform control and monitoring functions.

On the eve, in his speech, US President Joe Biden called on supporting Ukraine just as Israel and expressed hope that the US Congress would do everything possible to continue uninterrupted weapons supplies to Ukraine.