Published at: 17/07/2025 12:15 PM

This Thursday, the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Maria Zakharova, assured that Poland, Finland, Romania and Bulgaria are involved in the smuggling of Western weapons abroad from Ukraine.

The diplomat pointed out that Kiev's sponsors should think that these weapons will be used against them.

He also stated that the illegal trade “is totally controlled by organized crime, which is protected by corrupt officials, the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Ukrainian special services, and that the volumes of smuggling are colossal.”

“The smuggling of weapons abroad from the territory of Ukraine is carried out through several routes. One of the main ones is the land route through southern Poland, and then the weapons are scattered across Europe. Criminal networks also use the transit infrastructure of Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovakia,” he stressed.

The Russian spokeswoman added that "Moldova remains one of the main transshipment points for illegal weapons from Ukraine.”

“In the Balkans, a center has been created to smuggle weapons from Ukraine. It's not about sales through shady schemes on social media, but literally in the open air, so to speak. Finland, a new member of the North Atlantic Organization (NATO), has joined the new transit points.”

In this context, he stressed that smuggling is actively used on maritime routes from the port of Odesa to Bulgaria, Turkey, Montenegro and African countries. There are also air routes from the western regions of Ukraine. “With the use of airplanes, these contraband weapons are, of course, supplied to the Middle East, as we have already mentioned.”

Zakharova noted that the problem is of such magnitude that even the Western special services themselves are forced to recognize it. “Right now, the United States Department of Defense is investigating the use of weapons from Ukraine in the internal conflict in Sudan. Western weapons smuggled out of Ukraine are already being used in confrontations by criminal groups in Western Europe, France, the United Kingdom and Germany.”

Mazo News Team