The stream is dedicated to an operational topic that has become a scandal today.
These are supplies of tactical reconnaissance equipment to the army, namely the main tactical reconnaissance drones, the main reconnaissance and attack drones of the army - drones of the Mavik and Autel type - Chinese commercial quadcopters, which are the most optimal in price, balanced for reconnaissance, and easy to operate.
The whole front knows them, I think that every person in the country already knows them. I think that as much as the Mavics and Autels destroyed and corrected, no other weapon in this war destroyed or corrected them. And, of course, these drones are in high demand, because Maviks and Autels not only provide reconnaissance, if necessary, they can drop grenades on the enemy and very effectively. We have Mavik aces who have more than 500, even 600 precision drops to their credit, which led to the destruction or severe injury of Russian soldiers. I even have a video about one of these fighters on my channel. That is, “Mavic” is absolutely irreplaceable and there is a saying that “There can never be too many Mavics.” There is always a shortage. Even if they are there for reconnaissance, the costs of bombing lead to significant losses of equipment, and yet people go for it. But anyone can bomb from a Mavik. Training of fighters, almost most people can learn to fly on it, drop grenades, and of course, it is very effective when you can even put a person with some basic skills behind the control panel, and he will help you repel a Russian attack. Of course, using the Mavik remote control to repel an attack is much safer and more effective than sitting in a trench and waiting for the enemy to crawl up to you to throw a grenade or take a direct shot at close range. Therefore, “Maviki”, “Auteli” are a constant request. Everyone asks and wants them all the time.
Veteran and wounded serviceman of the Armed Forces Yuri Gudimenko wrote a message.
From August 16 to September 16, the Ukrainian Armed Forces received 50 Mavik-3T drones from the Ministry of Defense. “3T” is a night camera with a thermal imaging camera. Not 50 thousand, not 5000, not 500, but 50 fucking Mavikov-3Ts for the entire army. Is that half a Mavik per brigade? Or a quarter of a Mavika? Given that previously the supply of such drones was measured in the thousands, and now there are 50 pieces? Who will be responsible for this?
I looked into this topic and it turned out that there were a lot of interesting facts. The first reason why the Defense Procurement Agency did not purchase, as Gudimenko wrote in his note, is not purchasing Maviki. But it turned out, according to our sources in the Ministry of Defense, because the contracts expired in August and, as it turns out, the Ukrainian government did not allocate money to the Ministry of Defense to buy the main drone of the Ukrainian army, the most popular one, for which there is the greatest demand. Why did this happen? Because, of course, you and I understand how a defense procurement agency can buy drones if the government does not allocate funds for the purchase of drones. Perhaps you might think that the money, in fact, is simply someone who didn’t plan something and someone didn’t implement something. In fact, the money that was allocated was fully used. What did you find out? So, our sources in the government and in the Ministry of Defense, and in the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine report that this year, as is known, money for the purchase of drones, they were redirected, took away the entire military tax on personal income, which military personnel paid in local budgets, in the amount of more than 40 billion hryvnia, and it was transferred centrally to the government, so that it is no longer local budgets that buy drones, as was the case before, 22-23 years ago, but so that the government does it. What happened? That according to the government program, 24 billion hryvnia out of these 40 were to be distributed by the Ministry of Digitalization and 18 billion, a little more than 40 turned out to be there, 18 billion hryvnia were transferred for the purchase of drones and the purchase of ammunition for drones to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. But such an interesting detail. Moreover, the Ministry of Digitalization, the government banned the purchase of Mavik and Autel, and the Ministry of Defense had to buy Mavik and Autel exclusively for the army. What did this lead to? The Department of Defense has identified a need. The need for drones such as Mavic and Autel was calculated below any minimum values. If we count like this, let’s not reveal military secrets now, if we count the number of battalions and brigades that need Maviki and Autel, then for the first 8 months of 2024, if we count the number that was actually bought and delivered to the troops, and the number that necessary, it turns out that out of what was bought, we can say that about 3 Mavics were bought per month for approximately each battalion and brigade. If you count per month, then for each unit, that is, for each battalion, each brigade, everyone who uses Maviki, Autel, this is such a minimum value, perhaps even less. Is it a lot or a little? Well, in fact, so you understand, sometimes Maviks per day, an ordinary battalion can lose 3, and sometimes even 5 Maviks per day, since there may be intense fighting. The enemy shoots down these drones, they fall, electronic warfare is working, the enemy's electronic warfare systems are working, Ukraine's own electronic warfare systems are shooting down their own drones en masse, there are a large number, so you understand. This is sometimes up to 50% of losses, these are losses from our own. Therefore, of course, this figure is scanty, it means practically nothing. But it turned out even more that even with such a minimum purchase, it was purchased for 8 months. This is such a meager number. And in fact, all this time, volunteers and military personnel at their own expense buy the bulk of Mavics and Autels from their own pockets. The state actually covers perhaps 5% of the needs there.
Well, in some departments there may be 10, no more. People buy everything else themselves. A very large number of military units do not receive state Autels and Mavics at all. In principle. And he buys everything completely himself. So it turned out that even these meager deliveries of 3 Mavika per month to a battalion, to a brigade, all this was extended exclusively until August. And then zero. Nothing at all. Why? Because it turned out that out of the 18 billion hryvnia that were defined in the draft budget as expenses for drones for the army, the Ministry of Defense actually received 12 billion of them. But the government simply didn’t provide 6 billion; it didn’t exist. It was only today (September 16) that the government said we would provide the funds when the Facebook scandal broke out. Before there was no money in the account. Therefore, in fact, there is no reason to blame the Defense Procurement Agency of the Ministry of Defense, because they cannot buy the first, something that is not identified in the need, and the second, something for which money has not been allocated. Because an agency is only an executive structure. It cannot itself take money from the state budget in the required quantity and spend it where it considers necessary. Therefore, we have a situation where the government finds money. Government of Denis Shmygal. Why does it find money? There is a project to renovate a children’s hospital in the city of Krivoy Rog in the homeland of President Zelensky. Money is being found for the national memorial cemetery project - UAH 1.8 billion. For a hospital in Krivoy Rog - UAH 1.5 billion. There are 2 billion UAH. to finance useless propaganda at the telethon. That is, the telethon is financed from the state budget, 2 billion UAH are allocated for this. The state TV channel “Rada”, which is simply propaganda, such propaganda about the servants of the people, receives 78 million UAH. I don't mean to say, friends, that we don't need a national memorial cemetery. It's needed. We don't need to renovate the hospital in Krivoy Rog - we do. I just want to say that while money is being given to construction companies for these projects, the government is taking that money away from the Department of Defense budget. And thus they are taken away from the living defenders of Ukraine, who are dying due to the fact that the state completely ignores the needs for the supply of drones, which are provided for in the budget, which are approved by the General Staff, approved by the Ministry of Defense. The government did not allocate money for this. And the money will only start flowing now. That is, friends, they will just look for them now, Mavics have not been delivered for a month, nothing at all. And they won't be available for a long time yet. And then they will be purchased, and this is unlikely to cover most of the needs. Unfortunately, it won't close. But this is just complete absurdity. I understand that when the main defense expenditures are financed, what is included in the budget, and then the government additionally finds money for other important projects. But when they take money from the Ministry of Defense for Maviki-Auteli, for drones, and then redistribute it for some other items, well, this is complete absurdity. This is generally exceptional irresponsibility. Who is responsible for this? Of course, first of all these issues should have been raised by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. But we know that this is an absolutely frightened person, who is afraid of everyone, who is only worried about his chair. And he, of course, will never raise his voice, will not raise a question, will not demand anything from anyone. Neither at the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, nor in the government. Well, that's Mr. Cellophane. Nice, comfortable, silent, signs everything, doesn’t conflict with anyone, doesn’t argue with anyone. Such that he is, that he is not. Umerov’s secretary can also fulfill his duties, in principle. Walk instead, be silent as well. First of all, of course, we have a Minister of Defense, he simply does not fulfill his duties, he does not defend the interests of the army. He does not defend the programs included in the budget and does not demand their implementation. And votes for other government decisions, for the distribution of funds for other projects. Just absurd. To the telethon where he is performing. Minister Umerov votes for the telethon to be funded. But the fact that he was given 6 billion for drones and he left the army without Maviks is somehow without him. It is civil society that must decide, but he stands and does not quarrel with anyone.
Secondly, we understand the absolute irresponsibility of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief headquarters. That is, we have a rate of evening videos. There are constantly some incantations that we need drones, drones. And then it turns out that they don’t even control the money that should have gone to drones; it was taken away for other projects. It's some kind of complete absurdity. I want to say, friends, that we now have a big problem, because last year’s contracts for drones, they all end in November, at the beginning of November. And for us, November and December for the supply of drones are not closed at all. We have a critical situation because even the meager number of drones that the army should have received, that the defense forces should have received, even that will now fall very low because the government cannot find funds to finance the purchase of drones. And there will be a big dip now in November and December. There will be no failure at the telethon. All these talking heads that are shown there, that no one watches, everything will be fine with their salaries. There will be hundreds of millions going there. Because they will say there that Vladimir Zelensky, the wisest, the greatest, held a meeting and is very concerned and is taking all measures. This is where the PR money goes. The money doesn't go to drones. And soldiers and volunteers must buy drones again and raise funds. Everyone is running. As if people and society need war much more than the Servant of the People party and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Well, why are all these people sitting there at headquarters, I just don’t understand. This is simply absolute irresponsibility.
Therefore, it will be necessary to raise the topic of drones. The government must find funds immediately. Not only now to return 6 billion to the Ministry of Defense, so that all these 6 billion go to the purchase of drones. But it is very important that the government finds additional funds; several billion must still be found, of course, to cover the needs for November and December for different types of drones. We also need modern FPVs.
Sergei Sternenko raised a very important topic. These are problems with state-purchased drones like Fenix FPV, which have questions. I would like to say that there are also questions about other types of drones that the state contracts for a year, because when it has already been carried out for a year, these drones very often become obsolete. The equipment needs to be changed and their reliability checked. This is all poorly controlled. Therefore, we have big problems that behind the words and promises of a million drones there is no monitoring of implementation. There is complete irresponsibility. There are a large number of promises that are not subsequently confirmed by implementation. And it pops up like this on Facebook. If this had not been written on Facebook, there would have been no reaction. There is, of course, correspondence, but where is the result?
We seriously weaken ourselves by not having drones. I want to say that due to the superiority in certain sectors of the front in drones such as Mavik and Autel, the enemy manages to break through our defenses. For example, in the Ugledar area the situation is simply critical. The enemy is hanging carousels with these drones with drops, and they just take out very important positions. Because they are constantly above us, and we cannot respond to the enemy in the same way. Therefore, you know, I appealed to law enforcement agencies, to parliament, but we understand that this is all one group of servants of the people who cover for each other, and the only thing that influences them is some issues of great resonance in civil society, on social networks, and also questions from our Western partners who provide money to finance our budget and hope that the Ukrainian government will adequately distribute these funds. Well, it turns out that the priorities of the telethon for the government of Zelensky and Shmygal are much more important than the lives of Ukrainian soldiers, than weapons, than drones that are needed in war. I hope that we will create a worthy resonance on this topic, and it will not be possible to silence it.
Answers to questions
Why don't they buy Mavics? Because they cannot be stolen. Everyone, young and old, in Ukraine knows the plus or minus cost of Mavik, how can you make 200-300% on it? It’s better to say that they developed some new one and push it like two pickup trucks.
Well, friends, what can I say, there is a lot of truth in this, because the margin on Mavics is minimal. In fact, there are companies that specialize; if there was an adequate procurement system, they would give money. The procurement agency of the Ministry of Defense is normal, it buys Mavics at a normal price. But simply the amount that the General Staff required for them, and the amount that the Ministry of Defense received from the government for financing, are meager funds. And they do not even meet the minimum needs. Totally absurd.
Yes, and one more note:
“China is not selling. It was in August or September.”
Well, I won't go into details now. In fact, the issue of supplying Mavics and Autels is a purely technical issue. It can be solved now and in the future. If the Defense Procurement Agency had received the required amount of money, received another 6 billion hryvnia and bought Maviki and Auteli with it, believe me, all these contracts, even after September, would have been fulfilled. Yes, the price has increased a little, but this is all a fairly transparent story and these would all be minor fluctuations. Friends, well, this is the situation. We will continue to cover the issue because we receive requests every day. The main problem is that we need Auteli, we need Maviki. And, of course, we need to respond to this.
Why is Bezuglaya silent?
And, really, why is the Defense Committee of the Verkhovna Rada, which directly comments on everything, silent here? Well, how so? For some reason, it happens that when it is necessary to say that all the generals are bad and everything bad in the war comes from some generals, then Mrs. Bezuglaya, the Defense Committee, they are in the forefront. As soon as the question concerns the irresponsibility and criminal inactivity shown by President Zelensky, the head of the Ermak Office, the Shmygal government, the Minister of Defense Umerov, the desire to criticize Mrs. Bezugla disappears somewhere. She doesn't notice any stains on them. Impeccable, she likes it very much. However, there are no Mavikovs in the army. But Mrs. Bezuglaya, of course, will not notice about this and thus her management, which manages her activities, will, of course, not offend her. But then we will read again that someone is to blame. Everyone is to blame, except Zelensky, except the servants of the people. They do everything well, yes, they steal a little money, spend a little of it inappropriately, take money from the Ministry of Defense for a telethon, but that’s all they like. Well, for the salary of Mrs. Bezugla herself, and for supporting her activities. Therefore, friends, what can I say. The irresponsibility of our government is simply shocking. And, unfortunately, apart from scandals, apart from public pressure, apart from public opinion, apart from media coverage, we, unfortunately, have no other levers of influence on our government during the war. We will engage in publicity and will influence the fact that the necessary decisions on the defense of the state are still made and the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief is still sometimes fulfilling its duties.
Friends, thank you very much for the broadcast. Thank you for supporting the Butusov Plus channel. Thanks to your work, we can go on air. Thank you for being together. And Glory to Ukraine
