Pentagon did not 'accidentally' send 6.2 billion dollars to Ukraine
Pentagon did not 'accidentally' send 6.2 billion dollars to Ukraine
(Web Desk) - A clip from a June 2023 press briefing about an accounting error that overestimated the value of US military equipment sent to Ukraine has been shared online to falsely suggest the Pentagon accidentally sent an extra $6.2 billion to Ukraine.
On June 20, 2023, Defense Department Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh announced that the Pentagon had discovered the valuation for equipment sent to Ukraine in fiscal years 2022 and 2023 was overestimated by $6.2 billion because the wrong accounting method was used.
But the video from this briefing was shared in July 2024 with captions suggesting the Pentagon had mistakenly sent extra money. One example read, “Dear US Tax payers Just to let you know, that while you struggle to pay your rent, educate your kids and save something for a ‘rainy day’ The Pentagon ‘accidentally’ paid Dictator Zelensky an Extra $6.2 billion of your money ‘An accounting error’.”
During the full briefing (timestamp 01:28) at the Pentagon, Singh said the use of replacement cost in the accounting, instead of net book value, resulted in overestimation of the value of equipment already sent to Ukraine.
Singh said the amount of the overestimate totaled $6.2 billion across two fiscal years: “We have confirmed that for FY '23 the final calculation is $3.6 billion and for FY '22 it is $2.6 billion, for a combined total of $6.2 billion.”
She added that the error did not impact the presidential drawdown authority or support for Ukraine.
According to a July 11, 2024, fact sheet published by the Department of Defense (DOD), the emergency Presidential Drawdown Authority has been used on 49 occasions since August 2021 to provide Ukraine military assistance totaling approximately $25 billion worth of equipment from the DOD stockpiles.
The US has provided Ukraine with more than $50 billion worth of military aid since 2022 and on July 29, White House national security spokesman John Kirby announced a new security assistance package valued at up to $200 million.
The DOD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
