Of the military rations contracted last year, 445,000 sets were actually shipped to warehouses, the State Logistics Operator told LB.ua.
Last year, the State Logistics Operator contracted 1.4 million sets of military rations for 2025. More than 100,000 of them were shipped in the first quarter. Another 100,000 are expected in the near future. Also, almost 344,000 sets of reinforced daily field kits have already been shipped, according to procurement officials.
In addition, on 15 April, the technical specification for the introduction of halal and kosher kits was updated. They are waiting for an updated application from the Logistics Forces Command to start procurement.
As for how many military rations are left in the warehouses, it is the responsibility of the Logistics Forces Command, the SLO said.
Recently, Bohdana Yarova, a former adviser to two former deputy defence ministers, told Babel that there were no military rations in the warehouses, citing a statement from the Armed Forces Logistics.
"Two weeks ago, there was a meeting at the ministry, the rear came and said that the military rations were already expired, there were no stocks, and the rear was sounding the alarm. And the SLO asks the ministry whether to terminate the contract with the suppliers or not. Seriously? They are the ones who should make this decision," Yarova said.
According to her, the situation is critical, as the military rations that were purchased back in 2022 have expired, and the latest procurement, held in 2024, has been disrupted, Yarovaya said.
From the author: If you are a soldier and have to eat military rations, please tell us what the situation is with the provision in your unit: both with retort packs and rations in tins. The e-mail address is available in the author's office.
In an interview with LB.ua, Halyna Litosh, the programme director of the SLO's food service, said that the need to purchase military rations for the SLO was first identified in autumn 2024.
"The last time we supplied 15 ration in retort packs was in 2023. Then it was replaced by the 10th ration - the one in iron cans. They are not very popular, especially among young soldiers. Older soldiers prefer this format because you throw it into a fire, heat it up and eat it. That's why the military complain about the absence of this 15th rule," explained Litosh.
The first shipments, she said, began in early February 2025. They were tendered in November and contracts were signed in December.
‘But the annual demand for 2025 is divided into four quarters, so shipments under the 2025 contracts will start at the end of March,’ the programme director said.