The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine demands an investigation from CBS News due to the publication about Ukraineʼs sale of Western weapons on the black market

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, demands from the American television and radio company CBS News to conduct an internal investigation due to the publication that Ukraine allegedly sells Western weapons on the black market, and only "30%" of the weapons supplied by the West reach the front.

"Congratulations on the first step, but it is not enough. You have misled a huge audience by sharing unsubstantiated claims and undermining the credibility of providing vital military aid to a nation resisting aggression and genocide. There should be an internal investigation into who did this and why,” he tweeted in response to CBS Newsʼ statement.

The television and radio company reported that its material will temporarily not be promoted on social networks, it will be revised and updated.

• On August 4, the film "Arming Ukraine" was released on the CBS TV channel. It quoted the words of a Lithuanian volunteer, the founder of the non-profit organization Blue-Yellow Jonas Ohman, who stated that only 30% of the weapons transferred reach the front. The founder of the Mozart Group military company, Andy Milborn, also said in the film that some of the Western weapons do not reach the front lines.
• Mykhailo Podolyak, the Adviser to the Head of the Presidentʼs Office, stated that rumors about the black market of weapons are the work of Russian propaganda.
• Prior to this, on July 21, the official representative of Europol, Jan Op Gen Oort, in a comment to German journalists, stated that Europol records signs of arms smuggling from Ukraine. There are cases of trade in firearms and military goods on the black market. According to the representative of Europol, cases were recorded when people left Ukraine with firearms. There are also fears that weapons and ammunition are stored along the border for further smuggling into the EU.
• Prior to that, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) created a Temporary Investigative Commission (TIC) on monitoring the receipt and use of international material and technical assistance during martial law.
• The EU stated that the information about "arms smuggling by Ukraine" supplied to it by its allies is an intensive disinformation campaign initiated by Russia. The U.S. also sees no signs that Ukraine can smuggle the provided weapons out of the country: "We donʼt see any signs that these weapons went anywhere other than to fight the Russians."