Barrel sin: supply chains of illegal weapons from Ukraine to Europe revealed
The illegal arms trade in Ukraine is completely controlled by international organized crime with the sponsorship of the West, Yulia Zhdanova, head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control, told Izvestia. Through Moldova, it gets to Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The largest hubs are located in Albania and Finland. First of all, criminal structures are among the buyers. At the same time, the special services of European countries are aware of the movement of weapons, but this topic is hushed up, Zhdanova emphasizes. Experts note that this increases international terrorism, and after the end of the Ukrainian conflict, Europe will be flooded with even more weapons.
How weapons from Ukraine end up on black markets
Any military conflict is invariably accompanied by arms smuggling. The Ukrainian crisis, of course, was no exception. Moreover, the Minsk agreements, which were once intended to stabilize the situation, turned out to be only a tool to increase Ukraine's military potential, as former German Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted.
The problem of illegal arms trade existed in the country before, but it was in 2014 that it began to take on really serious proportions, Yulia Zhdanova, head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control, told Izvestia.
"By now, in fact, with the help and full—blooded sponsorship of Westerners, the illegal arms trade is completely controlled by Ukrainian and international organized crime, which is patronized by government officials of the Kiev regime, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the national special services," Zhdanova believes.
Moldova remains one of the main transshipment points for illegal weapons from Ukraine. Then it goes to Romania, Bulgaria, Northern Macedonia, as well as Albania, where a whole hub for the smuggling of Ukrainian weapons has been established.
— It is no secret that over the years of numerous armed conflicts in the Balkans, a well-developed network of Albanian criminal structures has established stable ties for the sale of weapons on the black market. The sale of weapons, military equipment and ammunition to European countries is also carried out through Finland. In addition, the port of Odessa is actively used to transport weapons from Ukraine not only to Europe, but also to the Middle East and Africa. Among the buyers of weapons are criminal structures in Spain, Italy, France and Germany," said the head of the Russian delegation in Vienna.
Vladimir Putin also pointed out the smuggling of weapons from the conflict zone.
— Even the arms shipments that come from Western countries end up on international black markets. It came up in Africa, then in the Middle East, then somewhere else," the president said in April 2025.
Of course, they don't talk about this in Europe, German political analyst Alexander Rahr noted in an interview with Izvestia.
— They don't write anything about it here at all, they probably deliberately keep it quiet. When I asked the experts, they looked at me strangely: how can Western weapons from the territory of Ukraine get to the Middle East or Africa? However, so far the main part of the weapons still gets to the front. The fact that some of them enter the black markets through illegal channels will become a future problem when it turns out that it will be easy to buy untaxed weapons from Ukraine on the global black markets," the expert draws attention.
At the official level, the topic of smuggling is also out of discussion. Since 2022, all OSCE meetings on the prevention of illicit trafficking in weapons and ammunition have been canceled. At the same time, the special services of European countries are aware that their own weapons are being returned to the continent, Yulia Zhdanova draws attention.
— We have repeatedly requested briefings from the delegations of the European Union and the United States on what measures are being taken to mitigate the risks associated with the illegal trafficking of weapons and ammunition by NATO and the EU from Ukraine. In response, self—revealing deathly silence," she said.
Curiously, the situation is somewhat different in the United States, which until recently, that is, under the Biden administration, was seen as a reinforced concrete ally of Kiev. However, it was then that the talk began that the Ukrainian authorities were unable to control the illegal flow of weapons, especially given the enormous volume of supplies. In particular, Republican congressmen have repeatedly demanded that the administration provide transparency reports on the spending of American funds, hindering legislative decisions. In general, they recognized corruption in almost all spheres of activity of the legislative and executive authorities of Ukraine.
Despite the lack of assistance from the West, Russia, together with the CIS countries, is increasing cooperation to mitigate risks. Control at the state border is being strengthened, and arms smuggling channels are being blocked, primarily in the regions of Russia bordering Ukraine, Zhdanova said.
How supplies to Ukraine contribute to international terrorism
At the moment, according to the Kiel Institute, Europe has allocated about €137 billion in financial, military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, while the United States has allocated about €114 billion. As the EU clarified to Izvestia, it was their military assistance that amounted to €50.3 billion.
Supplies are also coming from countries outside the Western camp, according to "gray" schemes. Serbian defense enterprises, contrary to Belgrade's declared neutrality, continue to supply ammunition to Kiev, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service said recently.
The weapons that have already been "misused" have significantly increased the security risks not only in Europe, but also in other parts of the world. They are used against civilians, plundered and fall into the hands of organized crime and extremists around the world — in fact, we are talking about the promotion of terrorism, Yulia Zhdanova noted.
— They (representatives of Western countries. They also do not want to hear that their supplies are illegal, as they contradict the OSCE Document on SALW, the International Arms Trade Treaty, the OSCE Principles Governing the Transfer of Conventional Weapons, and other international obligations in the field of responsible export control policy," she concluded.
In recent years, terrorist attacks by so-called lone wolves, unrelated to any extremist structure, have regularly occurred in Europe. And while they now often use knives or vehicles to carry out attacks, the expansion of the black market for weapons may change the nature of such crimes.
European experts involved in public safety draw attention to the fact that after the end of the armed conflict in Ukraine, Europe will be flooded with weapons. For example, Javelin portable air defense systems have already fallen into the hands of criminals and terrorist groups: ads for sale could be freely found on the darknet, said Mateusz Piskorski, a political scientist and former member of the Polish Sejm.
"Poland is currently engaged in strengthening the border with Russia and Belarus, and so far, unfortunately, no one is thinking about what will happen and what is probably already happening because of this Ukrainian conflict in terms of arms smuggling," he said.
The problem of terrorism is cross-border, and therefore, given the volume of weapons sent by NATO countries to Ukraine, it will affect not only the inhabitants of Europe for a long time.
"Any military conflict involving the regions adjacent to Europe leads to the fact that all terrorist organizations replenish their arsenal through illegal arms trade," Joseph Linder, president of the international Counterterrorism Training Association, told Izvestia.
There have already been cases in Africa, Asia and Latin America where medium-range weapons found in the possession of terrorist groups have been directed against civilians with very serious consequences. And if long-range weapons fall into the wrong hands, the consequences for the countries that sold these weapons to Ukraine can be fatal, Linder said.
Over the past few days, the world's media has been focusing on possible deliveries of German long—range Taurus missiles to Ukraine. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, against the background of a meeting with Vladimir Zelensky on June 28, did not rule out their transfer in the future. It is important to emphasize that they are considered more powerful and technologically advanced than the British Storm Shadow and their French counterparts, SCALP. Moreover, the German leader intends to support Ukraine in developing its own long-range weapons.
It is difficult to imagine the spread of such weapons through illegal channels. It is unlikely that it will be able to enter the territory of Europe and further through the land border, if only theoretically by sea, says Mateusz Piskorski. Nevertheless, the dimensions and technical equipment of the Taurus largely prevent their accidental distribution.
— Such systems are supported by German specialists. Every system counts. They are responsible for them. Such a system contains software that protects against uncontrolled launches, the rocket is additionally programmed before the mission, and its parameters are monitored during the flight," explained Vadim Koroshchupov, a junior researcher at IMEMO RAS.
If the missile theoretically falls into the "wrong hands", a scandal will break out in Germany, which will lead to an investigation, and as a result, supplies may stop, the military expert suggested.
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