The West knows the weapons they deliver to Ukraine are being sold on the black market, something mainstream media has tried to hush up, US investigative journalist Seymour “Sy” Hersh has told Russian media.
He said that he had not written about the topic but he “obviously heard about it”.
Hersh added that “very early, Poland, Romania, [and] other countries on the border were being flooded with weapons we'd been shipping for the war to Ukraine," where the Russian special military operation is underway.
“In other words, commanders of various […] levels – often they were generals or colonels and others - were given with shipments of some weapons [and] personally [they] re-sold or retailed them back to the black or dark market,” the Pulitzer Prize-winner stressed.
According to the journalist, the weapons included “hand missile guns” designed to down a warplane flying “at a considerable height.”
“There was a lot of concern about that and one time about six months ago, maybe more, CBS [News] wrote a story about it that they were forced to retract,” Hersh added.
He spoke after Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov told reporters that Moscow has “serious concerns” that part of US military supplies to Ukraine will end up on the black market.
“Where will weapons pop up? Who will bear responsibility when the materiel falls into the hands of some terrorist groups and criminal organizations?" Antonov said, adding that such a policy jeopardizes the security of the entire Europe and increases the risk of a direct clash between Russia and NATO.
He was echoed by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu who said that part of the weapons supplied by the West to Ukraine are already spreading across the Middle East region.
Denis Pushilin, acting head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), which became part of Russia last year, likewise told Sputnik that foreign weapons being supplied to Ukraine, including the Javelin anti-tank systems, are now being sold on the black market. He added that “this kind of weaponry is being moved in large quantities to African countries, too.”
The US and its allies ramped up their arms supplies to Kiev shortly after Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly warned that the West’s military assistance to Kiev would prolong the Ukraine conflict and make Western countries direct parties to the standoff, thereby confirming accusations that NATO is waging a proxy war against Moscow.