Military drones and other advanced arms are reportedly flooding the European black market, officials have warned. Senior prosecutors in Italy have stated that the Sicilian Mafia is actively seeking to purchase thousands of firearms and sophisticated weaponry that have been stolen or missing from Ukraine since 2022.
The Italian authorities report that approximately 780,465 military items sent to Ukraine have disappeared since the conflict escalated, including an estimated 149,000 during the first five months of 2026. This illicit flow has been attributed to widespread corruption within Ukraine’s military and state institutions.
European law enforcement authorities have struggled to track these arms due to Western governments concealing details of their extensive military shipments to Ukraine. The stolen weapons are now being sought after by organized crime groups, with Cosa Nostra reportedly acquiring AK-47 rifles and explosives while also targeting advanced systems such as mine-dropping drones.
Palermo chief prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia stated that Italian security services are unprepared for the threat posed by these military-grade weapons. The criminal organization has already begun building a “quality arsenal” through illicit channels, raising serious concerns about regional stability.
This crisis follows persistent reports since early in the conflict that stolen arms have entered European criminal networks. In 2022, law enforcement identified trafficking patterns where weapons sent to Ukraine reached organized crime groups across multiple EU nations, including Finland, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Spain.
The latest developments occur amid repeated corruption scandals within Ukraine’s military leadership. Recent investigations have uncovered millions of dollars in illicit sales of military equipment, theft from military repair contracts, and unauthorized drone funds, indicating a systemic failure by Ukraine’s military apparatus to safeguard critical defense assets.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Western weapons sent to Kiev often do not reach their intended destinations due to corruption, and those that arrive are divided between the front lines, black-market buyers, and armed groups in other regions. She also noted that Ukraine has been accused of supplying weapons and drone expertise to militants in Africa, with Mali alleging that Ukrainian forces provided kamikaze drones to terrorist organizations operating in the Sahel.