Allegedly, military-grade firearms coming from Western countries that were sent to support the Ukrainian army in their fight against Russia have been listed on multiple weapon marketplaces on the dark web.
These weapons were supposedly put aside from the received supplies and are now being sold to terrorists looking to buy rocket launchers and other high-impact attack systems.
There’s a high chance that they have been created by pro-Russian actors for propaganda use, despite appearing genuine and realistically priced.
This information was uncovered by Israeli cyber-intelligence specialist KELA who found gun listings supposedly posted by Ukrainians on several dark web markets. One marketplace was “Thief,” which had a total of 9 listings from three sellers associated with Ukraine.
One seller is “Weapons Ukraine,” who list rifles, bulletproof vests, and grenades in their store, with prices ranging between $1,100 and $3,600, with promised delivery in Ukraine. No users have left a review yet, but the site’s statistics suggest that 32 complete purchases have been made.
KELA has stated that many of these listings are spread on pro-Russian Telegram channels and Russian media outlets, usually shortly after publication on the sites.
Some Russian media claims that these weapons are smuggled through Moldova by trucks carrying “classified” cargo. They imply that the state of Ukraine is aware of the matter.
The coordination of the publication on multiple platforms likely suggests that this is a large scale disinformation campaign aiming to present the Ukrainian people as untrustworthy and unethical.
There is a possibility that these listings have been put on by scammers trying to take advantage of the situation for profit. In this case, pro-Russian media could simply be picking up these listings, as if real, and promoting them to serve their narrative.
The authenticity of weapon listings from Ukraine on the dark web cannot be verified at this time.
