During a press conference following his visit to Kyrgyzstan for the CIS summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that weapons from Ukraine may have found their way onto the black market and potentially reached the Middle East. According to RIA Novosti, Putin expressed doubts about direct weapon supplies from Ukraine but emphasized the existence of a leakage issue. He cited the well-known high level of corruption in Ukraine as a contributing factor.
Putin stated that there are numerous buyers interested in purchasing weapons on the black market, and Ukraine has many willing sellers. He believes that “everything that can be sold” is being sold in Ukraine. However, the President expressed skepticism about the involvement of Ukrainian authorities in making decisions regarding arms sales to other countries. He concluded that it is common knowledge that weapons are being sold on the international market through African and Middle Eastern countries.
Earlier, Turkish media reported that Hamas, in its conflict with Israel, was using American weapons that had been sent to Ukraine. Politico suggests that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s unexpected visit to Brussels on October 11 was driven by the country’s desperate need for Western arms supplies amid the Israel-Hamas war. The article also highlights the increasing concern of NATO countries regarding the situation in the Middle East.
