War turns Ukraine into illegal arms ‘supermarket’

KIEV, Ukraine — A former Ukrainian soldierturned-arms dealer agrees to meet in Kyiv, where he offers to sell a Makarov semiautomatic pistol for about $160 US. Amid haggling, he drops the price to $120. He says he also has Kalashnikov automatic rifles for less than $400 and can get rocket launchers.

The war in eastern Ukraine against Russia-backed separatists has led to the uncontrolled spread of firearms throughout the country, with experts describing Ukraine as a “supermarket” where millions of illegal weapons are for sale.

Since the armed conflict broke out in 2014, the number of crimes involving firearms has more than doubled in Ukraine, a country where gun ownership was previously very rare. Some of the weapons are also being smuggled out of the country, destined for conflict zones in the Middle East or for Europe, adding to fears of more attacks.

Andriy, the arms dealer, fought with a nationalist volunteer battalion for more than a year against the separatists. He agreed to discuss the illegal weapons trade on the condition he be identified only by his first name. If convicted of illegal weapons sales, he could be sent to prison for five years.

With the worst of the fighting in eastern Ukraine now over, Andriy said a used handgun can be purchased for as little as $20.

Ukraine has made all data about the illegal arms trade classified. Border guards, however, regularly report thwarting attempts to transport weapons out of the country illegally. In one of the more highprofile cases, a Frenchman was arrested in May after trying to cross into Poland with an entire arsenal. The Ukrainian Security Service said he was planning a series of terror attacks in France.

Transport police almost daily remove passengers from trains for transporting weapons in their baggage. Most are military personnel or members of volunteer battalions fighting on the government side.

Heorhiy Uchaikin, who heads the Ukrainian association of gun owners, estimated that Ukrainians now illegally possess as many as five million firearms. “Ukraine has turned into a supermarket for illegal weapons,” he said. “In Ukraine, a gun is like shoe polish in a shoe polish factory.”

The only legal market for firearms in Ukraine is for hunting rifles, the sales of which are tightly regulated. Uchaikin is advocating changing the laws to make ownership of handguns and Kalashnikovs legal as a way to regulate the market.

Nadiya Savchenko, a Ukrainian military pilot who fought with a volunteer battalion, blames corrupt military leaders for the flourishing black market.

Savchenko, who became a national hero after being captured and jailed in Russia for two years, alleges that weapons for Ukrainian soldiers who were called up to fight have ended up on the black market instead.

Since the armed conflict began in April 2014, at least 9,500 people have been killed. A ceasefire agreement in 2015 greatly reduced the fighting, but this summer has seen an uptick in casualties. International monitors have accused both sides of using heavy weaponry that was supposed to have been withdrawn.