Allegations that Ukrainian pilots were strafing anti-government protesters in Libya turned out to be wide of the mark. However, what may be true is that Ukrainian weapons exports are being used to shoot protesters trying to bring down the nation’s dictator, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
Western newspapers, including the New York Times, have reported that forces loyal to Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi have used Kalashnikovs to fire on crowds of protesters. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon estimates that more than 1,000 people have died after a week of protests.
Libya was the third largest importer of Ukrainian small and light weapons, such as Kalashnikovs, from 2004 to 2007, selling 101,500weapons to the North African country, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a Swedish research center.
Ukraine’s long history of exporting arms to African countries has drawn international condemnation for fueling conflicts there.
Ukraine’s state-controlled arms dealer Ukrspetsexport, which exports and imports military and special products and services, declined to comment on whether Kalashnikovs were exported to Libya and other African countries.
Appearing on Ukraine’s Inter television channel on Feb. 25, Serhiy Bondarchuk, who directed Ukrspetsexport for nearly five years until last year, denied that Ukraine has sold arms to Libya during his tenure.
Bondarchuk has said Ukraine only performed maintenance on Soviet military technologies. He added that accusations accusing Ukraine of arming Libya are being spread by countries that compete with Kyiv in the global arms export trade. Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, formerly head of the SBU [Security Service of Ukraine], echoed that claim earlier that week while on television.
But according to SIPRI,Ukraine is the 11th largest exporter of major conventional weapons worldwide, accounting for around 2 percent of all international exports of major conventional weapons. Libya was the third-largest importer of Ukrainian arms from 2006 to 2007.
A SIPRI expert said he is not certain whether the weapons Ukraine exported to Libya included Kalashnikovs.
“It is difficult to conclude precisely if these weapons are from Ukraine as Libya has received Kalashnikov rifles from a range of suppliers […] but there is use of Ukrainian weapons in other conflicts in Africa,” said Paul Holtom, director of the arms transfers program at SIPRI.
But, Holtom added: “Kalashnikovs arethe items that would be most likely covered by the category in question.”
According to Holtom, Libya’s desire to purchase Kalashnikovs is traced from a secret U.S. State Department cable leaked by the WikiLeaks whistleblower website. The cable, dated Aug. 18, 2008, states that U.K. company York Guns was trying to purchase 130,000 Kalashnikovs from Ukraine for export to Libya.
British authorities refused to grant a license out of concerns about the large quantity of Kalashnikovs requested.
One of the favorite destinations for Ukrainian exports is sub-Saharan countries, where Ukraine allegedly not only supplies weapons, but also maintenance, technical support andpersonnel for aircrafts. Media have reported that a Chadian unit operating Ukrainian Su-25 combat aircraft, and Mi-24 and Mi-17 helicopters “appears to be under the control of contracted Ukrainian personnel.”
The global intelligence company Stratfor on Feb. 22 quoted sources in Libya stating that Ukrainian pilots were flying Libyan MiG aircraft to fire on protesters in Tripoli. Ukraine’s foreign and defense ministries, however, quickly denied the allegations and no confirmation has since surfaced.
Protests in Libya started on Feb. 15. One week later, on Feb. 22, Gaddafi said protesters deserved the death penalty and is mounting an all-out effort to stay in power. Libyan soldiers and mercenaries from African nations are currently using small weapon to suppress the revolt.
Ukrainian arms export was a hot topic in several confidential U.S. cables released by WikiLeaks. A message dated Sept. 11, 2009 reported that Somali pirates hijacked the MV Faina vessel, which was transporting 33 T-72 tanks, artillery, light weapons and ammunition from Ukraine to the Kenya.
According to the cable, the final destination of the shipment was South Sudan. Ukrainian officials denied the reports until U.S. diplomats shared satellite photos of the shipment with their colleagues.The photos showed tanks T-72 being unshipped in Kenya, transported to railway settling for later transportation to South Sudan. Such sales to Sudan would violate international sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council because of the alleged genocide that has taken place during a protracted and bloody civil war.
Ukraine does not track re-export of its weapons to countries suspected of harboring terrorists.
“It’s too much work,” Valentyn Badrak, director of the Kyiv-based Center for Army Conversion and Disarmament Research, said.
SIPRI’s Holtom said while Ukrainian authorities have taken steps to improve the functioning of their export controls and also transparency with regard to arms exports, the country has been unable to fully shake the reputation gained in the 1990s and early 2000s as an irresponsible arms exporter.
“I am inclined to believe that this is due to the fact that the opportunity for profit seems to trump all other considerations, in particular risks of diversion or potential use in conflict or the commission of human rights abuses,” Holtom said.
Former Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, continue denying charges that they help arm dictatorships. “I can say there were no direct arms exports to Libya from Ukraine. It was military equipment and machinery. I don’t think Ukraine was among those countries that armed or is arming now Gaddafi regime,” Nalyvaichenko, the former head of Ukraine’s SBU state security service, said on Feb. 23 while appearing on Channel 5.
Kyiv Post staff writer Yuliya Raskevich can be reached at [email protected]
