Over 20 kg of explosives and thousands of rounds of ammunition: Ukraine wanted to sell one of the largest arms shipments

A group that prepared one of the largest batches of "trophy" weapons during the full-scale war for clandestine sale was exposed in Dnipro and Kyiv regions. About this said Security Service of Ukraine.

According to the National Police, they managed to detain the group's organizer, a 43-year-old resident of Poltava region. Two of his accomplices and three criminals who tried to sell the munitions were also detained.

According to the case, the group members first smuggled weapons from the frontline areas, then stored them in caches and prepared them for sale. The investigation involved four stages of controlled operational purchases and 19 searches in Kyiv and Dnipro regions, said Office of the Prosecutor General.

They were seized from the defendants:

→ 75 samples of small arms, including 48 Kalashnikov assault rifles and 26 Makarov pistols;
→ four machine guns;
→ eight units of other rifled firearms;
→ four grenade launchers and 31 rounds of ammunition;
→ eight mines and 76 grenades;
→ nearly 26,000 rounds of ammunition of various calibers;
→ almost 21 kg of explosives;
→ fuses, detonators, detonators, silencers, smoke grenades, bayonet knives, and loaded magazines.

Cash – over EUR 3,000 – and a car were also seized. The value of the "goods" was estimated at UAH 820,000.

The defendants repaired the damaged weapons in clandestine workshops set up in their own homes. New parts were ordered through specialized online platforms.

After restoring the weapons' properties, the group members looked for customers to sell them. They were representatives of local criminal circles who could use the weapons to commit crimes.

The group was exposed at the stage of preparation for sale – all were detained "red-handed" during the transfer of combat samples. The detainees were served a notice of suspicion of illegal handling of weapons. The issue of additional qualification of the offenders' actions is being settled.

The detainees are in custody and could face up to seven years behind bars.

• on January 6, it became known that in Mykolaiv, the parents of sold a newborn a child for $10,000. Police detained the woman and her partner.