Nevolfovich accuses Kyiv and Vilnius of corruption over the purchase of Ukrainian weapons for Ukraine. We investigated these claims

The post on the Nevolfovich Telegram channel about Lithuania purchasing weapons from the Ukrainian military and accusing the West of corruption was published on March 4, 2025.

"Lithuania will buy weapons from Ukraine... to give them to Ukraine. The Lithuanian Ministry of Defense decided not to take the easy route: buying from the Ukrainian military to gift to the Ukrainian military.

Brilliant scheme, right? Question: Why is Kyiv selling weapons if they need them so much? Answer: How else do you turn a profit? No words. Just 100% kickbacks," wrote the authors of the post, attaching a screenshot of a news article on the topic from the Russian publication Gazeta.ru. The author cited the news agency TASS and the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense.

The WTF team found an article about this on the Lithuanian ministry's website. The article discusses developing joint defense production in Lithuania and features the phrase:

"Lithuania will continue to invest in Ukraine's defense industry by purchasing products from Ukraine for Ukraine. An initial amount of €20 million has been allocated for this purpose, and it is expected to increase."

This means that Lithuania is buying weapons from Ukrainian defense manufacturers, not from the Ukrainian military, thereby supporting local arms production in Ukraine.

Lithuania is not the only country doing this. Other countries are also participating in the ZBROYARI: Manufacturing Freedom project, a global fundraising campaign in which Vilnius is sponsoring Ukraine's defense industry. In 2024, these countries included Denmark, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Lithuania. The latter, for instance, spent €10 million to fund the production of Ukrainian Palianytsia missile drones. Additionally, Vilnius and Kyiv agreed to establish a joint weapons production facility in Lithuania.