The Israeli Defense Forces are monitoring arms smuggled out of Ukraine and weapons captured by Russia over fears they could be used by Iran. A recent Pentagon report found insufficient tracking of weapons shipped to Ukraine via Poland.
On Thursday, a senior IDF commander expressed deep concern regarding the situation. “It’s really challenging to build the picture, but we see the signs,” the Israeli commander told Newsweek. “We see the signs, and this is very, very troubling.”
The IDF official said there was a smuggling route from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. The unnamed source explained weapons, including the Javelin anti-tank missiles, were placed on the black market by Ukrainian paramilitary forces for financial reasons.
A second pathway watched by the IDF is weapons captured by Russia, which officials fear could be handed over to Iran. The commander believes once the weapons make their way to Tehran, the Islamic Republic will reverse-engineer the arms. “They can research capabilities, and then learn how to manufacture them. I’m talking especially about Iran,” the official explained. “The other problem is that we are very worried that some of these capabilities are going to fall into Hezbollah and Hamas’ hands.”
An intelligence official from an unnamed country told Newsweek that Russia shipped Javelin anti-tank systems to Iran last year. The source reportedly provided satellite imagery to corroborate the information, but Newsweek admits it could not independently verify the material. All parties refused to comment on the record, except for Iran and the US. Tehran did not mention the weapons, but called for an end to the war.
The State Department said it was taking steps to prevent weapons from ending up on the black market. “The US government remains keenly aware of the risk of possible illicit diversion, and is proactively taking steps to mitigate this risk in close cooperation with the government of Ukraine,” a department spokesperson said, responding to questions from Newsweek.
However, a recent Defense Department Inspector General report outlined several failures in its system for tracking weapons. American forces stationed in Poland were found to lack proper training and created their own system for monitoring the arms that flow into Ukraine. Additionally, many weapons were shipped without a flight manifest, creating problems for the US troops, who were clueless as to how much gear should have been in the shipment.
The State Department claims there is no evidence of American weapons being misused and maintains that such accusations are Russian propaganda. US officials “are unaware of any credible evidence at this point of illicit diversion of US donated advanced conventional weapons by Ukraine,” the spokesperson said, claiming that “Russia continues to push disinformation alleging illicit arms diversion by Ukraine.”
Nils Duquet, director of the Brussels-based Flemish Peace Institute and coordinator of its European Commission-funded Project INSIGHT, said the weapons smuggling began in the war’s early days.
“During each armed conflict, weapons are diverted, especially small arms and light weapons,” Duquet told Newsweek. “This is also the case in Ukraine where weapons have ended up in civilian hands, already in the first days of the current conflict.”
The Israeli official said the IDF was struggling to determine the scope of the black market arms trade, but noted that weapons were flowing to North Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Leaders in Finland and Nigeria have reported that weapons intended for Kiev have already been used by criminals and insurgents. In December, then-Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari stated that arms “being used for the war in Ukraine and Russia are equally beginning to filter to the region.”
