Ukrainian journalist reveals classified information of the Defense Ministry
Commenting on the information provided by journalist Yury Butusov that the Ukrainian Defense Ministry plans to purchase modern anti-tank weapons and drones, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that any information on the planned supply of weapons to the Ukrainian army is classified, as reported by LIGA.net.
The press service of the General Staff stated that the procurement procedures of the weapons and equipment are determined by the state defense program, which is in force until 2020 and approved by government order as of March 30, 2016. "The access to the information contained in this program is restricted, it’s classified," the military stressed.
The structure of the state defense order for 2018-2020 was approved by Kyiv on January 17th. This year, the budget for the procurement of the equipment for the army will be increased to 21.3 billion hryvnia (more than $736 million), which is 37% more than in 2017. Priority will be given to missiles, armored vehicles, electronic warfare equipment, unmanned, and anti-sniper systems.
Butusov, the editor-in-chief of the Censor.net news website, in his Facebook post on January 15th, provided information of the plans of the General Staff of Ukraine to purchase 800 Stugna and Korsar anti-tank missile systems and a few thousand guided missiles. In addition, according to the journalist, 500 UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are included in the list of weapons planned for acquisition. He noted that, at the moment, the Ukrainian army does not have this many servicemen trained to work with anti-tank missile systems and UAVs.
The cost of one Korsar system is about $130,000. One rocket for Korsar and the Stugna costs about $20,000 dollars. Thus, two thousand rounds of ammunition for the anti-tank missile systems will cost Kyiv at least $ 40 million, and the systems themselves, more than $100 million. In 2017, the Ukrainian military received only 50 rockets and a number of launchers.