Modern Ukrainian uniform in photographs

Blue uniform of the National Guard

Ukrainian Army UBACS



"Predator" ("Хижак" (in Ukrainian), "Хищник" (in Russian)) camouflage for Special forces of Ukraine

On the matter of the photograph of the faded "Varan-VSU" uniform, which was made by a 79th brigade soldier, made a lot of noise in August 2015...

According to the information, that soldier washed the varan uniform 6 times in a washing machine at different washing modes.

As it is reported on a closed Ukrainian forum, from which I take many interesting pics
https://reibert.info/threads/kamufljazh-uniforma-ehkipirovka-snarjazhenie-znaki-i-nagrady-zsu-ngu-dpsu-vmsu-psu-sbu-cco.472099/page-20

Someone named "мр.Мойдодыр" tried to repeat this experiment.

"Varan" unifor was washed 6 times during 3 days in 2 different washing machines, withn the use of two different detergents (both made by "GALA"), in 6 different modes.

Every time:
- the uniform was turned inside out and used to dry inside out.
- the uniform was dried both under direct sunshine, and at night time in dampness.
- the water temperature when washing was 30-40 degrees, not higher.
- no chemical additives, except for washing powder were used.
- between the washings the uniform was not worn.
- the uniform was washed without any other clothes, except washing time No.4.

The first wash.
Washing mode - Cotton, washing time 2:40, water temperature +40 C degrees , spin speed 1000.
The uniform was turned out, but not fastened. As a result, the uniform was washed almost outside, say, in the mix, inside-out-drawing.
After drying, the jacket appeared to be similar in color with the pants, the shine of the fabric disappeared, it became softer to the touch. Around the chest pockets of the jacket, the fabric became worn out, and a serious rub on the upper velcro on the neck was noticed. During the initial inspection the tester did not pay attention to it and, so he did not know whether it was on the jacket before the washing or not.

Second wash.
Washing mode - Wool, washing time 1:30, water temperature +30 C degrees , spin speed 600.
The uniform was turned over and fastened, so that it would not unfold during washing.
No special changes were noticed, the fabrics became softer, some worn places on the pockets became lighter.

The third wash.
Washing mode - Sport, washing time 1:15, water temperature +30 C degrees , spin speed 800.
The uniform was turned over and fastenedd.
No visible changes are seen.
The uniform was dried for about half a day inside the car while driving on a road.

Fourth wash.
Another washing machine was used, another washing powder.
Washing mode - Hand wash, washing time 0:36, water temperature +30 C degrees , spin speed 400
The uniform was turned over and fastened. Washed with some colorful clothes of different fabrics.
No visible change in color loss is noticed.

Fifth wash.
Washing mode - Daily washing, washing time 0:58, water temperature +40 C degrees , spin speed 800. The uniform was turned over and fastened
No visible changes detected.

The sixth wash.
Washing mode - Color, washing time: 38, water temperature +40 C degrees , spin speed 1000.
The uniform was turned over and fastened.
No visible changes detected.


Photo 4 - comparison of the tunic after 6 washes and the tunic never washed.

"So, what's the deal?" - asked the tester. What did that soldier use while washing?

According to the information, it was whitening detergent "SARMA", "Mountain Freshness, For pure purity" was used.





So, in this case, according to the information, quite cheap and rought, bleaching washing powder was used for hand washing with a brush.

The mass-media in Ukraine wrote about some problems with "Varan" ("Варан-ЗСУ") uniform, due to the actions of some manufacturers.

http://nashigroshi.org/2017/06/14/nabu-zajnyalos-neyakisnoyu-vijskovoyu-formoyu-varan-za-62-miljony-i-zbahachennyam-polkovnyka/

Date: June 14, 2017

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office are investigating criminal proceedings, in which it finds out how the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine received substandard field suits for soldiers with the “Varan” pattern. This is evidenced by the decision of the Solomenskiy district court of Kiev on May 24.

As established by the investigation, in April 2015, the Ministry of Defense approved the technical conditions for cotton and mixed fabrics for the manufacture of workwear. Subsequently, the TU made changes. Were added fabric in the camouflage pattern "Varan VSU", and without conducting troop tests, without visible prototypes and without standard samples, which is a violation.

At the same time, as a result of a research test, wearing summer field suits with a Varan camouflage pattern in the airborne brigade in the city of Nikolayev, the commission found that after each wash of such army suits their color became lighter.

Despite the negative result of the test, the Armed Forces Logistics Dept. has submitted to the Department of Government Procurement and Supply of Material Resources of the Ministry of Defense an application for a negotiation procedure for the purchase of summer field suits (jackets and trousers) at an expected cost of UAH 37.50 million.

Subsequently, in September 2015, after the experimental tests of new models of military uniform with the "Varan" camouflage pattern the commission came to the conclusion not to accept them for the provision of Ukrainian servicemen, since they are not suitable for acceptance: the color changes after washing, fades from direct sunlight, the paint on the knees used to be erased etc...

But some time later, the Ministry of Defense accepted the offer of ТОВ «ІСО» and concluded 4 contracts with the company for the supply of 30 thousand uniform kits for a total of 22,480,000 UAH. And in the future, the Ministry of Defense took a low-quality product, as a result of which the state budget was damaged.

In addition, last year, according to the results of competitive bidding, the Ministry of Defense ordered 95 thousand field summer suits in 8 lots at ТОВ «ІСО», ПП «ШФ «Авітекс», ТОВ «Формстиль», ТОВ «МІК», ТОВ «Ан-Ва» and ТОВ «ТУСМО» for the total amount of UAH 60,440,000

-------------------------
Just for information UAH means Ukrainian Hryvnias. 1 US dollar = approximately 27,2 UAH at the moment.

The fabric of all military summer suits should meet the conditions specified in the contracts and standard sample. However, the representatives of the Office of Military Missions of the Ministry, who had to check the quality of costumes at all stages of production and to take control of the quality of the goods, did not do so. In addition, the Office did not include representatives of the Center for Development and Support of Material Support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Center) to commissions on acceptance of goods at enterprises and did not notify such acceptances.

The ready products from suppliers, which were not checked by the military acceptance commissions, but which managed to obtain the signed Acceptance Inspection Certificates, were supplied to separate support centers in Kharkov, Kiev and Khmelnitsky.

Later, the head of the Center for Development and Support of Material Support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Marchenko created a working group for random selection and transfer of samples of suits for laboratory testing. In the military units, the selection of costumes of 4 manufacturers - «МІК», «Ан-ва», «Формстиль» and «ШФ «Авітекс» was carried out with the participation of representatives of suppliers, experts and volunteers.

According to the results of laboratory tests in the State Enterprise "Ukrmetrteststandart" («Укрметртестстандарт») it turned out that all the samples of the suits do not meet the technical conditions. Moreover, in the laboratory they came to the conclusion that army jackets and trousers in the “Varan” pattern have a detrimental effect on the state of health during their use.

According to the criminal investigation, the representatives of the Ministry of Defense used to carry out the control of product quality either formally or with a gross violation of the standards and technical specifiation in the interests of private business entities. Colonel Alexander Kostiunin was responsible for quality control.

Within the framework of criminal proceedings No. 520160000000000319 of September 09, 2016, at the filing of petition of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office , the court arrested seven apartments and two non-residential premises, that belonged to Stanislav Ruzhitsky, who is the father-in-law of the aforementioned colonel Alexander Kostiuninnas well as other property of the colonel's relatives. These apartments and premises were acquired by him during the past 5 years, although he worked as just a driver, as well as other property of the colonel's relatives.

In the opinion of the investigation, the source of the income of Kostiunin's relatives may be unlawful benefit from the companies that supplied field camouflage suits.
...

By the way, ТОВ «ІСО» that belong to Sergei Kulbaka, several times used to stumble the  supplies of orders for the army, but because of the court decisions it forced the Ministry of Defense to accept the jackets and sleeping bags...

To finish the topic of that judgement case on the matter of “Varan”…

In a lengthy judgment of 2017 (http://www.reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/66930690) – the full text is in Ukrainian language, the disclosed shortcomings of this camouflage uniform are described as follows…
On September 21, 2015, an interim review of experimental items of clothing and equipment - summer field costumes with the “Varan” camouflage pattern, established by the commission that 4 washings of this suit were conducted during the control period, after each wash the color of the suit becomes lighter. Velcro fasteners lose their properties. In places of intense wrinkling and friction, the painting has almost disappeared. Over the period, the costumes came under rain, and as a result, moisture was incontinent.
On September 30, 2015, a commission for conducting research tests of clothing items from representatives of military unit B-4174, which in turn conducted this study, had an act of final inspection of experimental items of clothing.

On May 26, 2016 selected samples (manufacturers: "МІК", "Ан-ва", "Формстиль", "Авітекс") sent to the state enterprise "Ukrmetrteststandart" (ДП "Укрметртестстандарт") for the appropriate testing for compliance with the requirements of ТУ У 14.1-00034022-078:2015 "Костюм літній польовий" (“Summer field suit”).

The conclusion of the tests was as follows: the summer field uniform with the “Varan” camouflage pattern should not be taken on by the servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, by the following reasons:
- As a result of 2-3 washing of the field suits, the color changes, white stripes appear, the colors become lighter;
- While wearing, the color fades from direct sunlight;
- The fabric wears out, the colors blend into a single light brown shade;
- The coloration paint gets erased on the laps;
- In the places of intensive wearing, the fabric has visible abrasions.

On June 01, 2016 and June 07, 2016, the Head of the Test Laboratory approved 20 test reports, according to which the samples of the “Varan” camouflage suits, provided for the tests, do not meet the requirements of the Technical Specifications, namely:
- linear measurements (ГОСТ 4103-82)
- Changes in linear dimensions after wet processing (ДСТУ ГОСТ 30157.0-2003, ДСТУ ГОСТ 30157.1-2003)
- free and partially formaldehyde content (ГОСТ 25617-83)
- Degree of color fastness to physical and chemical effects (ГОСТ 9733.27-83) and product labeling.

Thus, according to the results of the laboratory tests carried out in the above-mentioned suppliers, various shortcomings were discovered and, in particular, data were obtained indicating that it was impossible to continue using the suits after washing, and the harmful effects on health when using them are found.

In other words, despite the negative results of the research tests, the military check and acceptance commissions of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine adopted a low-quality product, with does not comply with the quality indicators of technical specifications ТУ У 13.2-00034022-024:2015 and the damage caused to the state budget of Ukraine.
The guilty persons were found, and even punished, but since May 2017 “Varan” camouflage is still used mainly during military parades…

I hope, that the loud scandals will make the necessary effect, and very good “Varan” camouflage pattern will be embodied in high-quality uniform, which comply all the necessary requirements of the appropriate standards and technical specifications!

There is an old and wise prioverb, that the soldier should find his place as far as possible from his commander, and as close as possible to the cook shop (canteen, refectory, eatery)...