Washington, March 16 ( /Sputnik) The US State Department installed a new payment system for its officials that is disrupting the proper payment of salaries to thousands of US diplomats and officials including some working in war zones, it was reported on Wednesday. The new system was installed in 2021 but it has forced some diplomats to waste time tracking down their payments instead of just doing their jobs, the report said on Tuesday, citing interviews and documents. The failure of senior officials running the department to respond to the problem is significantly damaging morale across the US diplomatic corps, the report continued. Delays including disruptions in the extra pay ordinarily approved for diplomats carrying out difficult and dangerous missions, the report said. Patrick Ellsworth, a Russian speaker who previously served as an adviser on developments in Ukraine was among those who have resigned over frustrations with the new system and the failure of State Department leaders to tackle it, according to the report. /SPUTNIK ACL0830