Vending machines and grenade launchers: In Ukraine "lost" over 270,000 weapons where to look for them

This figure is 40% of the total number registered in the Unified Register of Weapons, indicate the data of "Openatable". In the incomplete 2024, 78 217 weapons were stolen or lost, more than for the whole of 2023 and more than before the beginning of the Great War. Hunting rifles (27. 9%), vending machines (27. 8%) and carbines (10. 8%) disappear more often. Among the models are AK-74 (51 008 units), PM guns (7. 4% of total volume) and SCS carbines (4. 4%).

Regional, the leader in the loss of weapons was the Zfrontov Donetsk region - 19. 4%. Next are the Zaporizhzhia region (11. 8%) and Kiev (10%). The overwhelming majority of weapons in the registry (88%) have been lost since the beginning of the Great War, another 12% have been stolen. However, the statistics are unrepresentative and requires significant clarifications, explains the head of the Association of Weapons Association Georgy Uzkin.

The specialist proposes to divide the data into two parts: "Ordinary Ukrainians may lose their weapons or say that they have lost if they do not want to continue permission. A possible loss of weapons during their departure from occupied Russian military territories. On the eve of the offensive of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, "he thinks. Starters, combat guns, grenade launchers and other weapons for the Armed Forces are registered with military units.

In this connection, Unaikin recalls the loss of a large stock of small arms in Soledar warehouses. During the capture of the city by the Russians in January 2023, the Wagner fighters captured the largest weapons in Europe. Former mercenary head, Yevgeny Prigogin then published a video with weapons. The frames can see a large number of boxes inside the storage room.

Prigogine said that they have new Thompson-machine guns, Shpagin and Sudaev machine guns, as well as Maxim's machine guns with high speed. "The statistics, to put it mildly, is irrelevant and at times different from the real state of affairs. Only in Soledar did we see a kilometer queue with weapons. No one knows where they were divided," Uzikin continues. All lost in the war zone will inevitably find themselves in the black market.

The situation with illegal circulation of weapons in Ukraine is becoming more and more terrifying every day, the expert admits. "It is about 5 million units, and this number will increase until the Ukrainian authorities take the right legislative measures," - said Uzikin. Stocks of small arms in the war zone may disappear if the Russians make an accurate rocket strike on military warehouses of the Armed Forces.

As a rule, weapons are written off by acts, but for this purpose it is necessary to assign the number to each machine, says military expert Oleg Zhdanov. "And if the cargo was only accepted and did not have time to numb, how to count the machines? The fighter could miss the missing weapon by the results of the battle, so it is not necessary to trust the approximate statistics," - says the analyst's focus. The Armed Forces of the Armed Forces are punished for the loss of weapons.

In case of loss or damage of military property, the soldier shall be liable under Article 413 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Sanctions for offenses include: liability is calculated in a ratio of 1:10 - for a lost machine is paid in ten times. "Such incidents are incredible. The fighters pay for broken or lost weapons, this is a big problem for our army. Sometimes soldiers give up, for example, drones. It is better to take them from volunteers, so as not to do the writing procedure," he said.