You're reading: Ukraine’s Soviet legacy shows in outdated military logistics

Decades-old military vehicles. Transactions still processed on paper. Troop gear requirements that haven’t been updated since 2000.

Ukraine’s military logistics are bogged down by their Soviet legacy and bureaucracy. The inefficiency puts lives at risk and wastes money.

“We’ve already invested five percent of our gross domestic product into the national security and law enforcement, so it’s already a heavy burden on the budget,” Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko told Bloomberg Television on March 24. “We spend on average $5 million a day defending ourselves from unprovoked aggression.”

Military logistics comprise some of the most important aspects of military organization: from planning and implementing troop movements, to the acquisition, movement and maintenance of weapons and materials.

“There’s nothing more important for a nation than to be able to defend itself and raise armed forces,” President Petro Poroshenko told a group of military commanders in Kyiv on March 23.

In the same speech, the commander-in-chief said the army is outdated, but is undergoing “dramatic changes to military training and logistics provisions.”

Bohdan Kovalev is part of a group of eight former volunteers who helped supply soldiers that now has official status within the armed forces. On Nov. 17, the government tasked them with overseeing the transition of old logistical systems to more efficient ones.

Kovalev mainly works on the delivery of food and clothing supplies, including international humanitarian equipment, to soldiers on the battlefield. The challenges he and his team face are immense, and there is no way to replace an old system at once.

An important criterion in the logistical framework is transparency since international donors carefully observe the delivery process. “People want to see where this all goes,” Kovalev says.

Ukraine received 10 Humvees from the U.S. on March 25 as part of America’s first non-lethal military aid package. Included in the $75 million package are unarmed Raven drones, counter-mortar radar, night vision devices and medical supplies. Ukraine expects an additional 200 Humvees by mid-May.

Another criterion is proper training to use new equipment, lethal or non-lethal. “If we do not know how to use it, it is useless for us,” Kovalev says.

NATO is helping to improve logistics as well, said Tetyana Richkova, a volunteer who cooperates with the Defense Ministry. Money will be used to build new warehouses.

A card system will be implemented so that soldiers can register their uniform sizes and other necessary supplies automatically. Up to 20 percent of uniform costs are lost because of wrong sizes, Richkova said.

High levels of bureaucracy still curail he improvements.

One problem is that all transactions are processed on paper, said Richkova.

“It’s impossible to understand what is in a warehouse, and what is on its way,” she says. “Everything is still operating by Soviet standards. This is simply a nightmare.”

Poor logistics also affect morale.

Maksym, a deputy commander serving in the conflict zone who has asked that his last name not be given because is not authorized to speak about military service, said that many who completed their tours of duty still have not received documents stating that they participated in military operations. This, in turn, delays the distribution of salaries.

“People do not like it that their rights are not protected and that they cannot receive their documents in time,” he says.

The government currently delivers about 80 percent of military supplies and the rest is made by what is donated by volunteers, according to Richkova. These supplies include food, gas, some weapons and night-vision devices.

Based on official government requirements, soldiers are all now fully equipped. But the requirements themselves are a problem, Richkova says, pointing out that the latest update on military essentials for soldiers was compiled in 2000.

For example, as a matter of policy, new uniforms are distributed to soldiers every nine months. But this is inadequate in actual times of military operations, when a soldier’s uniform is likely to be worn out in much less time.

Valentin Mayevskiy, a logistics expert and head of the Logistics Association of Ukraine, a think tank, mentions another problem: the outdated military vehicles that deliver supplies. They have been out of use for decades now, he says. They break down on the road and create further delays that hamper the army’s performance.

Mayevsnkiy suggests that private companies step in to help the government with new and more efficient transport equipment. “Private companies have a huge number of vehicles,” he says. “Moreover, they are not being used for their regular jobs.”

Kyiv Post staff writer Ilya Timtchenko can be reached at [email protected].