A Pentagon accounting error could seriously affect Ukraine

The Ukrainian Armed Forces could soon be receiving even more American military aid after an accounting error at the Pentagon overcounted the cost of previous security assistance to Ukraine by billions. 

Pentagon defense officials accidentally tallied up the wrong numbers for missiles, ammunition, and other important equipment to the total of $3 billion according to a Reuters report. 

Reuters also noted that the error was due to assigning a higher value to some items that were shipped than should have been after they were removed from U.S. stockpiles. 

"We've discovered inconsistencies in how we value the equipment that we've given,” an unnamed senior defense official explained to Reuters on the condition of anonymity. 

The unnamed defense official also told Reuters that the total cost of equipment shipped to help Ukraine could rise higher than $3 billion as the Pentagon looks into the situation more. 

The Wall Street Journal first detailed the Pentagon’s accounting error and noted in the paper's reporting that officials discovered the mistake in March during an internal audit. 

Military officials accidentally used higher valuations that should have been assigned to new gear and were not factoring in that the equipment sent to Ukraine was older stock, and a a result was worth less than when it was new. 

“In some cases, the services used a replacement cost over the net book value cost so thereby they overestimated the value of the equipment that was drawn down from the stocks,” one Pentagon official told the Wall Street Journal. 

Because of the difference in funds, the Wall Street Journal noted that Joe Biden and his administration may now not need to ask Congress for additional funds for future packages. 

President Biden only had $2.7 billion in U.S. aid funds for Ukraine prior to the discovery of the Pentagon's accounting error, so the addition of those funds would more than double what the U.S. could now provide. 

The error has now been corrected according to one Pentagon official that spoke with the Wall Street Journal, and they noted that military officials were also reviewing past assistance packages for errors. 

“In no way did the overvaluation constrain our support to Ukraine,” the official added, though the Wall Street Journal pointed out that it is still unclear how the accounting error could have affected American aid to Ukraine.  

Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Mike Rogers and Chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul commented on the problematic nature of the Pentagon’s accounting error in a joint statement according to The Hill. 

“The revelation of a three-billion-dollar accounting error discovered two months ago and only today shared with Congress is extremely problematic,” the joint statement read. 

“These funds could have been used for extra supplies and weapons for the upcoming counteroffensive, instead of rationing funds to last for the remainder of the fiscal year,” the statement continued. 

According to the Department of Defense, the United States has provided the Ukrainian government with $37.9 billion in security assistance since the conflict began in February 2022.