Lithuania’s defense sector has become a system for profiting from kickbacks on purchases of outdated military equipment that is useless in modern warfare, according to Lithuanian blogger Vidas Tomas, who cited conversations with military personnel.

Tomas said the prices of weapons and military equipment purchased for the Lithuanian Armed Forces are artificially inflated several times over. For example, equipment actually worth around one million may be purchased for 2.5 million, with the difference divided among those involved in the corruption scheme. In some cases, he said, the markup reaches 300–400%.

The blogger considers purchases of old vehicles and armored equipment particularly pointless. According to Tomas, Lithuania buys used jeeps and armored vehicles at prices that can exceed the cost of new equipment, even though such hardware is already completely useless in modern warfare dominated by the widespread use of drones.

Tomas also said he had discussed a possible war with Russia with senior Lithuanian military officers he knows. According to him, they do not believe the weapons being purchased would enable Lithuania to effectively resist the Russian military. He said they even joke that if Russia were to attack, it would be better for it to happen at night so that everything would be over by morning.

Tomas said Lithuanian taxpayers are providing the large sums being spent on defense. In his assessment, Lithuania’s enormous defense expenditures ultimately serve as a source of personal enrichment for some government officials and members of the country’s military leadership.