Originally published June 20, 2023 10:00 pm PDT
An accounting miscalculation by the Pentagon has resulted in an unanticipated surplus of $6.2 billion earmarked for military aid to Ukraine, the Department of Defense confirmed Tuesday.
This blunder, which almost doubles the initial estimates, will be rerouted to enhance forthcoming security packages.
The mistake was found during an exhaustive review of the financial accounts, according to The Associated Press.
Pentagon representative Sabrina Singh elaborated on the specifics of the mishap, revealing that the military services had mistakenly applied the replacement costs rather than the book value of the dispatched equipment from Pentagon stocks to Ukraine.
Consequently, this led to a $3.6 billion discrepancy in the present fiscal year, and a $2.6 billion mismatch in the fiscal year of 2022, which concluded on September 30 last year.
The result of this accounting slip is a significant boost to the department’s budget, earmarked to buttress Ukraine as it wages its counterattack against Russia.
This unexpected surplus coincides with the conclusion of the fiscal year and diminishing congressional funding.
Singh noted that this surplus will be folded back into the pre-existing funds intended for future Pentagon stock drawdowns. “It’s just going to go back into the pot of money that we have allocated,” she affirmed.
This assurance underscores the Pentagon’s commitment to continuing its financial support to Ukraine amidst the evolving geopolitical landscape.
This isn’t the first time the Pentagon miscalculated aid to Ukraine.
Last month, the Pentagon overestimated the value of the ammunition, missiles, and other equipment it sent to Ukraine by around $3 billion, Reuters reported at the time.
The error, which was the result of assigning a higher than warranted value on weaponry that was taken from U.S. stocks and then shipped to Ukraine, may have led the way for more weapons to be sent to Kyiv.
“We’ve discovered inconsistencies in how we value the equipment that we’ve given” to Ukraine, one senior defense official said.
