Ukraine officially admits illegal sale of West donated weapons
KYIV ($1=29.50 Ukrainian Hryvnias) — The Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine registered repeated sales of humanitarian aid coming from Western countries, as well as arms. This was announced by the director of the department, Vadim Melnik, on the air of the TV channel “Ukraine 24” on July 5, according to Life online portal.
- Location Kyiv: Javelin ATGM is sold for $30K on the darknet
- Arms trade or not, DSCA wants on-the-ground supervision in Ukraine
“Even military goods are sold for cash. We have such facts,” Melnik said. According to him, the bureau is investigating cases related to the sale of humanitarian aid received from foreign partners.
As far as the sale of military products and weapons is concerned, the department has already registered around ten such criminal cases. Melnyk stressed that this is an incomplete number of similar crimes, as other Ukrainian law enforcement agencies register similar violations.
In recent weeks, more and more signals have come through unofficial channels about the sale of Ukrainian weapons. BulgarianMilitary.com was one of the first sites to inform the world about the potential illegal trade in Western-donated weapons, goods, and humanitarian aid.
In Washington, they even admitted that the agency responsible for the sale and supply of American weapons abroad [DSCA] could not control the stockpiled supplies, their serial numbers, and their distribution among the Ukrainian armed forces because of the war. At this time, the US cannot send mobile teams to check availability, but DSCA is willing to open an office in the territory of Ukraine. DSCA says that the information they have about how the donated US weapons are used is based solely on assurances from Kyiv.
BulgarianMilitary.com recalls:
- A Javelin anti-tank guided missile system has appeared as a product for sale on the darknet with the location Kyiv. The value that the unknown seller had set was $30,000.
- The Russian armed forces used American Stinger missiles to shoot down Ukrainian helicopters that tried to evacuate Ukrainian soldiers during the siege of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol.
- The online portal Donbas Insider claims, citing its military sources from France, that two Caesar self-propelled howitzers were sold to the Russian armed forces for $124,000 each. French MP and lawyer Régis de Castelnau wrote on his official Twitter account: “Another success of Macron: 2 French Caesar guns were intercepted intact by the Russians. They are currently in the Uralvagonzavod factory in the Urals for study and possible reverse engineering. Thank you Macron, we are paying”. A few days later, on June 23rd, the Russian company [Uralvagonzavod] responded to the French lawyer, through its official Telegram profile and citing Régis de Castelnau’s tweet, writing: “Hello, Mr. Regis. Please convey our thanks to President Macron for the donation of the self-propelled guns. This material is of course not tip-top… not like our MSTA-S! But nevertheless, it will be useful. Send more – we’ll take them down.”
France’s General Staff has denied reports of a French Caesar self-propelled howitzer being captured [or sold] by Russian forces in Ukraine. “This information is false,” said the General Staff of France. “We categorically deny it. We’ve discussed this with our Ukrainian partners.” According to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, no evidence was provided to support the claim.
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