DISINFO: Poland and Romania are flooded with illegal weapons intended for Ukraine and drug traffickers will be armed as well
SUMMARY
Poland, Romania, and other countries bordering Ukraine have been flooded with weapons supplied by the West intended for Kyiv's combat operations. The weapons will end up being used by drug traffickers. The volume of military aid to Kyiv is breaking records.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative, without credible documentation aiming to discredit and undermine Western public support for and deliveries of weapons to Ukraine.
There is no evidence to suggest that such weapons intended for Ukraine have flooded Poland or Romania or will "end up in the hands of drug traffickers" or criminal groups. Similarly, there is no evidence to suggest a state-organised or widespread black-market trade of Western weapons.
Russian and pro-Russian media outlets and officials have repeatedly stated that this is happening also without any evidence. Multiple journalists have investigated these claims but they have not found any large scale operations of this kind.
A BBC report on 23 September 2022 stated that "Russian state media claim Ukrainians are selling US-donated weapons on the dark web. The BBC investigated one such marketplace, spoke undercover to those apparently selling weapons, and gathered evidence that suggests the adverts for weapons are fake''.
The BBC found several sellers on the same marketplace mentioned by Russian state media outlets. They said they were selling NATO weapons, and their geolocation was Kyiv (the name of Ukraine's capital was misspelled in Ukrainian). One of the main sellers claims to have made 32 successful deals selling US-made carbines [a type of automatic rifle], pistols and other rifles all allegedly delivered within Ukraine. However, the BBC found that many of the photos of the weapons were not as they appeared - the photos were old and manipulated.
There are legitimate concerns about the transparency in the supply process of Western weapons, as the US and other governments have explained that they don’t have the means to monitor the final destination of all these arms. According to reports in the international media, Ukraine was setting up a more extensive weapons monitoring and tracking system with the help of the Western countries.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that at least 15% of Western weapons sent to Ukraine are illegally re-exported, that the weapons supplied by the West by Ukraine are actually useless, that US companies promote war in Ukraine to sell weapons, that by arming Ukrainians the West is triggering a conflict with Russia, or that Ukraine is paying for weapons with grain.