“Thousands of Lithuanian drones destined for Ukraine are stuck in warehouses. 5,000 drones worth 5 million euros, purchased by Lithuania for Ukraine, have not yet been delivered due to bureaucratic obstacles. The Ministry of Defense of Lithuania promises to simplify the transfer procedure and deliver the equipment in the near future.”, — write on: unn.ua
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It is noted that representatives of the RSI Europe company, from which drones are purchased for Ukraine, claim that the equipment was delivered several months ago. However, the company still has no confirmation that the drones are in Ukraine.
We delivered part of the drones in October, part in November, but we still have no information about what drones were delivered to Ukraine
He added that they have not yet been called to teach Ukrainians how to use these drones.
According to ex-Minister of National Defense Laurinas Kaschyunas, bureaucracy is to blame for everything. He claims that in order for the product to reach its final destination, it is necessary to go through six steps.
The bureaucracy is as follows: there are warehouses, the Defense Resources Agency must formally transfer it to the army, the government must decide on the transfer to Ukraine, then it must be transported to Ukraine
The ex-minister explained that the steps are logical, but if there is a delay at any of the stages, then everything gets stuck.
At the same time, drone manufacturers call for the delivery of equipment to Ukraine as soon as possible.
If the drones are not with the soldiers, then Ukraine will suffer more significant losses than it could have
According to LRT, the head of the parliamentary committee on national security and defense, Gedrimas Eglinskas, also pays attention to the technical characteristics of drones.
“When it comes to drones, which are new technologies that are manufactured according to the latest standards, they should be in the hands of the users – the Ukrainian military – as soon as possible,” said Gedrimas Eglinskas.
According to Eglinskas, this story should be a signal to review the entire system.
The Ministry of Defense claims that drones purchased from Lithuanian manufacturers will be delivered to Ukraine in the near future. The agency says the chain is already shrinking, thanks to a government order passed this week.
It provides that if state property is purchased for the needs of another state at the expense of funds allocated by the government, then the government should not re-negotiate this issue. (…) From now on, we will start transferring property to Ukraine in accordance with these changed procedures
In August 2024, five Lithuanian drone manufacturers successfully conducted tests in Ukraine. Almost 5,000 drones worth 5 million euros were purchased for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In addition, 2,300 combat drones worth 3 million euros were purchased for the Lithuanian army.
We will remind
On January 11, 2025, at a meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky instructed to increase the order of drones and increase the production of Ukrainian weapons.