Ukrainian military exposes Russian arms and UAV smuggling channel

Ukrainian special services have eliminated a Russian smuggling channel through the Black Sea. The operation was conducted for over a year by officers of the State Security Service (SBU), the Main Directorate of Intelligence (known as GUR), and the Ukrainian Navy.

This was reported to GUR.

Investigators determined that participants in the scheme transported contraband across the Black Sea from Abkhazia to the Russian Federation on civilian boats and other vessels. The cargo included large consignments of cigarettes, as well as Russian drones and other weapons.

Law enforcement officers detained members of the group while attempting to illegally smuggle a person across the state border and transport a new batch of contraband.

During searches in the Odesa and Chernivtsi regions, 1 800 cartons of cigarettes, documents and phones, a converted automatic weapon, and a Russian drone with a warhead hidden among contraband were seized.

The investigation is currently ongoing. Law enforcement officers are identifying all those involved in the scheme.

• In January, GUR and SBU exposed a Belarusian KGB agent who was trying to infiltrate one of the Ukrainian military intelligence units. The 35-year-old woman was detained in Kyiv and charged with espionage.

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