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Ukraine is recalling a batch of 120mm mortar shells that the military said were defective.
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Ukrainian media reported that around 100,000 people were affected.
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It’s a dramatic hiccup in Ukraine’s ambitions to quickly ramp up its ammo production industry.
Ukraine’s defense ministry issued a recall of 120mm artillery shells this week, citing defects in the latest batch of rounds.
In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry said it was investigating incidents of “abnormal activation” of bombs over the past three weeks.
Officials did not say exactly how many rounds were affected, but Ukrainian media reported that 100,000 would be recalled.
The defective 120mm rounds – light artillery shells that Ukraine often uses in mortars – were first reported in early November by Censor.Net, a local media outlet run by journalist Yuriy Butusov.
The evacuees posted a video showing a Ukrainian soldier complaining that the bombs often failed to hit and sometimes flew short distances from their targets.
About one in 10 units would ignite and explode successfully, the soldier estimated.
Local broadcaster TSN also reported on Monday that soldiers said rounds would be stuck in mortar barrels, and that their units regularly received wet powder bombs.
Also called bounce or cheese charges, these explosives are intended to dislodge mortar from its tube.
Butusov, who runs Censor.Net, released a separate video on his YouTube channel on Monday, saying a general told his site that several Ukrainian brigades had been ordered to withdraw 100,000 from the front lines.
TSN and Ukrainian investigative journalist Yuriy Nikolov reported the same situation, with Nikolov writing that he was worth six months of use.
Local reports also stated that the round was manufactured by Ukroboronprom, a major state arms manufacturer.
The company said in February 2023 that it had partnered with an unidentified NATO country to produce 120mm bombs, but it is unclear whether the negative spin came from this partnership.
Ukroboronprom and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry did not respond to requests sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.
In its statement on Tuesday, the defense ministry said it was looking into the reasons for the malfunction, including “low-quality ammunition or violations of the security conditions of the weapons.”
The government officials also said that they will remove the guns that have come from abroad, but did not elaborate.
Fedir Venislavskyi, a member of the Ukrainian parliament on the defense committee, told public broadcaster Suspilne that the orbit may have been affected by cold and wet weather.
“There is no water in the weather, these mines have not been able to produce,” he told the company.
An unnamed defense ministry official also told Suspilne that the gun issues were limited to one batch out of several already delivered by the manufacturer.
Kyiv has put a lot of emphasis on developing its own weapons after its forces starved for months when the US Congress blocked American aid earlier this year. Globally, Ukraine’s allies have also struggled to quickly ramp up the production of artillery shells.
On November 19, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that domestic factories produced 2.5 million munitions bombs and mortar rounds in 2024 alone.
The numbers have been particularly worrisome for Ukraine, which faces a grinding Russian front in the east that relies heavily on people, gear, and weapons to move forward.
Meanwhile, the ammo recall has raised domestic questions about quality control and Ukraine’s procurement practices, with local sources calling the incident a “scam” of “low-quality goods.”
Last year, Ukraine was hit by two major bribery scandals where its defense officials were accused of paying for food and winter jackets.
The Ministry of Defense said a criminal investigation had been launched into the 120mm guns, but added that it would not release further details due to military information.
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