Ukrainian Armed Forces still receive defective mines — journalist Butusov

Ukrainian journalist and editor-in-chief of the CensorNet portal, Yuriy Butusov, shared this information on his Facebook page, citing sources directly from the military.

“Mortar launchers of the 151st, 155th, and 59th brigades continue to receive thousands of defective mines from the Ministry of Strategic Industries. No one takes them back or replaces them; they continue to provide the faulty ones,” he said.

To confirm his claims, Butusov shared a brief video showing new boxes of mines being unpacked in the 151st Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. 

The journalist holds the head of the Ministry of Strategic Industries, Herman Smetanin, personally responsible for the continued supply of defective artillery mines to the troops.

“Mr. Smetanin is lying to cover up his corruption and incompetence, the cost of which is not money, but the blood of Ukrainian soldiers. Neither Smetanin nor the leadership of the Ministry of Strategic Industries are at the front; they are afraid to look the defenders of Ukraine in the eyes, to whom they supply junk,” Butusov emphasizes.

According to the journalist, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Supreme Commander-in-Chief Volodymyr Zelenskyy “have not taken any measures to address the situation or remove the defective mines.”

Background on defective mines scandal

Yuriy Butusov first reported in November 2024 that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had received defective mines manufactured by Ukroboronprom.

“Why such mines were transferred to military units without quality control is a matter that needs attention and legal assessment,” the journalist urged law enforcement officers at the time.

In response, Fedir Venislavsky, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Defense Committee and a member of the Servant of the People party, stated that the entire batch of low-quality mines delivered to the Ukrainian army had already been returned to the manufacturers' warehouses, who would now have to produce new ammunition at their own expense. Overall, the MP assessed the volume of defective products as not critical.