Poor-quality mines for Ukrainian forces are sabotage, not theft - Ukrainian major

He shared the information on Espreso TV.

"As soon as the issue of poor-quality mines arose, there were immediate suggestions that the cause could be improper storage. It might have been the case in some units, but for all units across the front to simultaneously store just the mines incorrectly, while everything else was stored properly, this seems like a very weak explanation," noted Hetman.

According to the officer, a mine consists of many components. To produce it, one must strictly adhere to the technology and use the correct materials. In this case, one of the key elements - gunpowder - failed.

"I believe this wasn’t some theft or corruption - there's not much to gain by using inferior gunpowder. This wasn’t a corrupt mistake, but a deliberate sabotage. Those responsible didn’t act because they stole something or neglected components, but because they intentionally used a different chemical formula that didn’t work as it should," emphasized Hetman.

The veteran of the Russo-Ukrainian War also added that if the gunpowder doesn’t ignite and fails to propel the mine from the barrel, it indicates that the wrong gunpowder was used.

What is known

Journalist Yuriy Butusov reported on November 20 that a batch of substandard mines, manufactured by Ukroboronprom, had been supplied to Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines.

On November 26, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine announced an investigation into the delivery of substandard 120-mm mines to the military. Meanwhile, the State Bureau of Investigation launched a criminal case.

Preliminary findings from an interagency commission’s investigation indicated that potential defects in the mines could be attributed to poor-quality gunpowder charges or improper storage conditions that led to damage.

During the inspection of ammunition supplied to Ukraine's Defense Forces, about 24,000 low-quality mines were found and must be returned.