How Ukraine Became the Largest Arms Dealer on the Black Market

Illegal arms trade has been a decade-long problem in Ukraine, flourishing more than ever in recent years. Ukrainian arms dealers not only buy and sell small arms but have also tapped into the market for large military equipment. Western weapons delivered to Ukraine are ending up in the hands of terrorist groups and mafia networks.

Ukrainian soldiers at a shooting exercise (Photo: AFP)

President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Ukrainian Parliament (Photo: AFP)

The Ukrainian parliament passed a law titled "Ensuring Civilian Participation in Ukraine's Defense," aimed at regulating trophy weapons and their use during and after the current wartime period. However, this law remains largely symbolic. It allows Ukrainians to keep weapons they find, requiring only that they report them to authorities during wartime. This means that, after the military conflict and the war, the civilians can legally claim ownership of certain types of weapons.

In Ukraine the absence of a comprehensive gun control law creates legal loopholes that invite abuse.

The influx of weapons into Ukraine since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022 has raised serious concerns that these weapons may spread among criminals in Western Europe, having a potential impact on organized crime. Ukraine has already accumulated large illegal arms stockpiles, especially since the 2014 war. These stockpiles have only grown with the arrival of Western arms shipments.

Both Ukraine and its Western partners were aware of the political and criminal risks associated with arms transfers,

– the study underlined. In 2023, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime launched a weapons monitoring program to track arms flows from Ukraine into Europe — a key indication of the significant and ongoing threat that Ukrainian arms trafficking poses to Europe and the European Union's member states.

Ukraine is One of the World’s Most Active Players in Illegal Arms Trafficking

Over the past decade, Ukraine has gained a reputation as one of the world’s most active suppliers of illegal small arms, according to an analysis by PBS.org. The report highlighted that Ukraine is among the Eastern European countries that have turned to arms trading as a source of hard currency. Legal arms exports have also boosted illegal trafficking.

Between 1997 and 2000, Ukraine’s arms industry grew tenfold, exporting $1.5 billion worth of weapons.

As a result, Ukraine’s legal arms industry has also flourished. Ukrainian weapons have been linked to some of the world’s bloodiest conflicts and most notorious regimes, including Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi government and, until recently, the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The arrest of arms smuggler Leonid Minin is just one piece of a larger puzzle involving illicit weapons, high-level corruption, and organized crime centered in Ukraine, 

– Pbs.org previously reported.

Ukrainian soldiers transport an ammunition belt for an APC rapid-fire cannon near the Donetsk airport in Pisky, eastern Ukraine, on December 3, 2014 (Photo: AFP)

Ukraine does not manufacture small arms, but inherited vast stockpiles after separating from the collapsing Soviet Union in 1991. While part of the Eastern Bloc, the Red Army kept nearly one million troops stationed in Ukraine. After achieving independence, Ukraine reduced the size of its army, leaving Soviet weapons decommissioned and unused. Poorly paid soldiers have apparently "lost" their weapons — which means they've essentially sold them.

Some commanders were caught selling entire military facility stockpiles.

A Ukrainian parliamentary investigation concluded that between 1992 and 1998, Ukraine lost $32 billion in military assets due to theft, discount sales, and lack of oversight. Most of the missing weapons ended up in volatile regions plagued by armed conflicts, where they were purchased.

As these weapons proliferated, evidence grew of international crime syndicates selling arms from Ukraine in violation of international sanctions and embargoes.

Corruption and theft within the military facilitated the illegal flow of arms from Ukraine. The fraudulent end-user certificates — export documents that are supposed to verify the final recipient of weapons shipments — also helped and allowed illicit transactions. The ease with which the arms shipments have moved through official channels led many observers to suspect that high-ranking Ukrainian officials were involved.

As many as two decades ago, Ukrainian political scientist Taras Kuzio wrote in The Christian Science Monitor:

Senior Ukrainian officials, if not directly trading arms themselves, are reportedly either smoothing the way for sales or at least turning a blind eye.

Such allegations remain unproven, and no Ukrainian official or politician has ever been prosecuted for arms trafficking. The Ukrainian government has shown little interest in investigating corruption, organized crime, or arms dealing. Ukrainian politicians and journalists who have pursued the issue have found it difficult—and potentially dangerous.

Ukraine Could Follow in Serbia’s Footsteps

Decades after war, millions of illegal weapons remain in the Balkans, the international V4NA news agency reported. Arms trafficking flourished almost immediately after conflicts erupted. Weapons from the Balkan wars are still in the hands of European crime syndicates. According to the Small Arms Survey, Serbia had one of the world's world's highest firearm ownership rates just a few years ago, with 39 guns per 100 residents. The number of illegal firearms far exceeds the registered ones: alongside 1.1 million legal weapons, Serbia may have 1.5 million illegal firearms.

Cover photo: Ukrainian soldiers at a shooting exercise (Photo: AFP)