Grenade event in Lviv Oblast, Bukovîna area, Ukraine on Tue 2nd June 2026

SBU and National Police eliminated 6 new channels of underground sale of captured weapons in Ukraine

The Security Service and the National Police prevented new attempts to illegally sell "trophy" weapons and ammunition in different regions of Ukraine.

According to the results of comprehensive events, six underground distribution channels of weapons were eliminated and the organizers of the transactions were detained.

Among the seized from the attackers are Kalashnikovs, in particular the latest Russian – AK-12, as well as 130 anti-tank grenade launchers, more than 380 grenades and almost 20 thousand rounds of various calibers.

Thus, in the Kyiv and Donetsk regions, four active and former military personnel were detained at once, who were sheltered to take out weapons from the front-line areas of eastern Ukraine for sale.

Law enforcement officers detained one of the defendants in the capital region when he pulled a Kalashnikov assault rifle and a grenade launcher for sale from the trunk. Three more intruders were detained in Kramatorsk.

In Khmelnytskyi region, a former soldier was suspected, who, after retiring, planned to "earn" the arms sales exported from the front line.

During the searches, the man found caches, which he arranged in his own household and in the house of his parents.

During the inspection of the cache, law enforcement officers seized an AKS-74 assault rifle, 16 grenades, 74 TNT bombs, 1.2 kg of gunpowder and more than 3 thousand rounds of ammunition.

In the Kirovograd region exposed a dealer who attracted acquaintances from different regions to sell hand grenades, as well as two Kalashnikovs, including AK-12 with ammunition.

SBU officers detained the organizer of the crime "hot" when he tried to sell a batch of weapons and ammunition.

In Bukovina, another defendant was detained, who during his service in the combat zone collected for sale an arsenal of grenades of the RGO and F-1 type.

To covertly send them to customers, he masked "orders" in postal parcels among provisions.

In Kharkov, a 16-year-old boy was arrested, who tried to sell a Russian Kalashnikov with four equipped shops and three grenades.

SBU officers documented the crimes of the defendant and detained him “hot” during the sale of weapons in the center of the front-line city.

In Zaporozhye, a dealer was exposed who was looking for criminals to sell 150 hand shrapnel grenades taken out of the war zone on the southern front.

Currently, the detainees have been notified of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 1 of Article 28 263 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal handling of weapons, ammunition or explosives committed by a group of persons upon prior conspiracy).

The attackers face up to 7 years in prison.

Comprehensive measures were carried out under the procedural guidance of Kropyvnytskyi, Shepetivka and Nemyshliany District Prosecutor's Offices, as well as Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia Specialized Prosecutor's Offices in the Defense of the Eastern Region and the Transcarpathian Specialized Prosecutor's Office in the field of defense of the Western region.