The cache was intercepted while reportedly being shipped to criminal groups in the country\u2019s west<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) has announced the transfer of weapons worth about $100,000 confiscated from an alleged smuggling ring to the notorious Azov Corps.
\nThe cache, including about 17,000 rounds of ammunition, grenades, single-shot anti-tank grenade launchers, land mines and other weapons, according to the Ukrainian agency, was handed over this week, having been seized in May.
\nA criminal group had used a humanitarian vehicle to transport the weapons stolen from the front line to Ivano-Frankivsk Region in Western Ukraine, the DBR has alleged.
\nThe weapons were intended for sale on the black market, but will instead be used by Azov, the agency said, describing its members as \u201cdefenders of Ukraine.\u201d
\nAzov originated as an ultranationalist Ukrainian volunteer militia amid the country\u2019s bloody armed coup in 2014, before being incorporated into the country\u2019s security forces. The unit has been widely accused of atrocities and war crimes by both Russia, which designated it a terrorist organization in 2022, and Western organizations, including the UN, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Drug cartels recruiting drone operators with Ukraine conflict experience \u2013 WaPo<\/p>\n
Prior to the escalation of the conflict with Russia in 2022, US lawmakers had sought to restrict military assistance to the unit, citing its members\u2019 far-right ideology. Western governments have since expanded their cooperation with the formation.
\nMoscow has for years warned that the Ukraine conflict would become a major source of illicit weapons for criminal groups and has alleged that elements within the Ukrainian state could be protecting trafficking networks.
\nLaw enforcement agencies in several European countries have also warned about the risk that weapons from Ukraine could enter criminal markets.
\nUkrainian organized crime tends to become joined at the hip with corrupt officials, as showcased earlier this month by the exposure of a protection racket operating in the prosecutor general\u2019s office, which collected fees from scam-call centers.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Inside the bunker: How a Zelensky aide struggled to explain away corruption<\/p>\n
The accusations by Western-backed anti-graft investigators forced the resignation of Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko. The former key ally of Vladimir Zelensky has fled the country and reportedly resides in Vienna now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The cache was intercepted while reportedly being shipped to criminal groups in the country\u2019s west Ukraine\u2019s State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) has announced the transfer of weapons worth about $100,000…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38996,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t