Weapons sent to Ukraine could end up with ‘terrorists’ – UK – RT World News

Western weapons could be trafficked out of Ukraine and into the hands of criminals and terrorists, the director general of the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), Graeme Biggar, has told The Sunday Times. Previously, Moscow had estimated that up to $1 billion in weapons flowed out of Ukraine every month.

“As in any conflict, when weapons flow, there is a risk of backfire,” Biggar said Sunday. “At the end of the conflict, there are surplus weapons that fall into the hands of criminals or terrorists.”

Biggar, who took over as head of the NCA in August, said British and European police were watching for pistols, machine guns and grenades on the streets.

Although he received assurances from the head of Ukraine’s national police that Western weapons are taken into account, he said that Europol and other European law enforcement agencies “all on the lookout for this.”

Biggar said the NCA has yet to see any evidence that criminals have obtained weapons from Ukraine. However, both Interpol and Europol have warned that weapons will inevitably leave the country and end up on the black market.

Western donors to Ukraine have admitted they cannot track most of their arms deliveries once they enter the country, and Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said last month that up to $1 billion of such weapons are funneled from Ukraine to criminals and terrorist groups. in the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia every month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that by sending tens of billions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine, the West becomes a de facto participant in the conflict. Last month, Putin claimed that “cross-border criminal groups” have obtained “powerful weapons, including man-portable air defense systems and precision weapons” from Ukraine.

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