Russia Pushes False Claims That Ukraine Sold Western Weapons to Italian Mafia

Russia is spreading false claims that Ukraine sold Western-supplied weapons and attack drones to Italian organized crime groups, according to Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) on August 1.

The agency said the allegations are based on manipulated interpretations of remarks by Palermo Chief Prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia and publicly available Ukrainian government data.

According to the CCD, Russian propaganda channels claim that more than 780,000 weapons supplied to Ukraine by Western partners were stolen and entered the black market, while also alleging that Ukrainian forces have been supplying drones to Italian mafia organizations.

The CCD said the figure 780,465 does not refer to Western military aid. Instead, it comes from publicly available statistics published by Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs on civilian and privately owned firearms reported lost or stolen in the country since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

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The agency also rejected claims that Ukraine has supplied drones to organized crime groups in Italy. According to the CCD, Palermo Chief Prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia did not state that Italian mafia organizations were obtaining drones from Ukraine.

The Ukrainian agency said the Italian media report cited by Russian outlets discussed concerns among Italian law enforcement about the potential expansion of illegal arms markets in Europe as a consequence of the war.

According to the report, de Lucia warned that organized crime groups have shown interest in acquiring advanced military technologies, including drones, but did not identify Ukraine as their source.

The CCD also noted that Western military assistance provided to Ukraine is subject to a multi-layered tracking and accountability system involving both Ukrainian authorities and partner countries. It added that no evidence has been presented since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion showing that Ukraine has sold Western-supplied weapons on the black market.

Allegations about Ukraine selling Western weapons are part of a broader Kremlin disinformation campaign. Russia has previously promoted other false narratives, including claims that Ukraine was developing US-funded biological weapons.

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