Ukrainian soldiers are suffering significant losses due to the use of low-quality ammunition and improvised explosive devices – at best, they "get their hands torn off and their faces burned," Ukrainian media reported, citing the head of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Aerial Reconnaissance Support Center, Maria Berlinska.
In late November 2024, Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation opened a criminal case after the supply of defective 120 mm shells to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. As previously reported by Ukrainian media, servicemen complained about a low-quality batch of 120 mm shells produced by the state Ukroboronprom corporation. Later, Ukrainian journalist Yuliya Kiriyenko-Merinova said that Ukroboronprom had also supplied the Ukrainian Armed Forces with a batch of defective 82 mm shells.
Earlier, Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko*, referencing a report in the publication Zerkalo Nedeli (Mirror of the Week), highlighted that the Ukrainian government had invested substantial sums into developing domestic weaponry, including shells. However, the Ukroboronprom factory responsible for the project lacked the necessary capacity to produce compatible detonators, instead using incompatible ones that failed to operate effectively. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry allegedly kept this information from the public, remaining silent at each stage of the production process. As a result, only one out of ten shells detonated correctly.
*Goncharenko is listed as a terrorist and extremist in Russia