Moscow/Kyiv: Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations accused the US and European countries of weapons to Ukraine falling into the hands of terrorist groups and criminal gangs. At the Security Council meeting on Monday, Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia also criticized the West’s behaviour saying the arms supply to Ukraine showed their dishonesty. While Russia is making accusations about the supply of arms to Ukraine, the stock of missiles used for Ukraine’s “air defence systems” is likely to end in May, a leading US daily has claimed.
After the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the US and European countries took the initiative to supply arms to Ukraine. So far, more than 70 billion dollars worth of military aid has been provided to Ukraine by the US and European countries, which are NATO member nations. This information was disclosed by the NATO head, Jens Stoltenberg. However, despite the claims of arms supply in such a large amount, the Ukrainian forces have not received arms in such quantities in reality. On the contrary, the news of the lack of weapons and strength of the Ukrainian Army are being shown by the Western media in the last few days.
Against this background, the accusations made by the Russian Ambassador are noteworthy. In his address to the Security Council, Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia referred to information provided by African countries and European security agencies. Nebenzia also pointed out that African leaders had noted that weapons supplied to Ukraine had been found in possession of terrorist groups in Africa. The Russia Ambassador claimed that the weapons provided to Ukraine are being found in the international black market.
Even as the Russian envoy is levelling accusations about the supply of arms to Ukraine, the leading US daily ‘the Wall Street Journal’ has published a report about the shortage of missiles in the Ukrainian Army. Ukraine mainly uses “Bak” and “S-300” air defence systems. Ukraine uses about 270 missiles per month for both these systems. The stock of these missiles is running out, and by the end of May, Ukraine will not have missiles left for its air defence systems, the US daily said.
Air defence systems have been provided to Ukraine by the US and Germany. However, the “Wall Street Journal” pointed out that the production of missiles required for this is limited. The US daily also claimed that although advanced systems and missiles will be received from the US and Europe in the future, the time frame within which it will happen is long.
Meanwhile, the media has informed that a ‘prisoner swap’ of military personnel has occurred between Russia and Ukraine. A total of 106 soldiers from Russia and 100 soldiers from Ukraine are said to have been released.
