The European Union Police Service (Europol) has started investigating cases of smuggling of weapons and military products delivered from NATO and the US to Ukraine.
On July 21, the head of Europol Jan Op Gen Oort said during an interview, with the German DPA agency, that he is concerned that weapons could fall into the hands of terrorists.
They have already started to see the trading of weapons from Ukraine increase which is causing fears for Europol. They believe that weapons are being stored near the Ukrainian border for further sale.
Jan Op Gen Oort also spoke about the presence of ads on the dark web for the sale of American Javelin anti-tank missiles, but their authenticity needs to be verified.
At the same time, a report was broadcast on the German TV channel SWR. The report was about a secret document that the department has, showing criminal groups operating in Ukraine that are planning or are already smuggling a “significant number” of weapons from the country.
On July 11, European Commissioner for Internal Affairs Ylva Johansson spoke about the plans of the European Commission to open a hub in Chisinau to combat arms smuggling and the flow of illegal migrants who travel to the European Union from Ukraine through Moldova.
According to her, the hub will contribute to ensuring security in Moldova. She explained, “we are talking about a situation where criminal gangs use the crisis in Ukraine to their advantage, including on the territory of the republic.”
On July 5, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that some of the weapons supplied by the West to Ukraine have already ended up on the black market.
Simon Wezeman, a senior fellow at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), also pointed out last month that weapons supplied to Kiev could eventually simply disappear on the black market because Ukraine does not control its territory.
Western countries are sending weapons and military equipment to Kiev against the backdrop of a special operation carried out by the Russian Federation to protect Donbass. The Russian side has repeatedly stressed that such supplies prolong the conflict and do not lead to a diplomatic solution to the situation.
Only time will tell how many of these weapons will be sold on the black market, and what damage will these weapons cause in countries across the globe.
