Investigations has revealed that certain US-supplied weapons have already been seen on dark net marketplaces and in international smuggling networks, proving that Moscow’s warnings to western nations about the risks of unrestrainedly flooding Ukraine with weapons are beginning to come true.
After a scan across marketplaces on the dark net – a different portion of the internet accessible, for instance, through the Tor browser – an online shop named “Weapons Ukraine” was discovered on the THIEF marketplace. Faithful to its name, it readily sells firearms.
Express Delivery of 200 Rifles
“Weapons Ukraine” claims to be situated in Kiev, has a Russian name, and boasts of 32 successful deals validated by a guarantor – an intermediary given by the hidden website to ensure that a client receives their goods and the seller receives their money. The shop’s proprietor sells M4S assault rifles from US arms suppliers for $2,400, which is far more than the Pentagon’s pricing range of $600 to $1,200.
But unlike Pentagon, “Weapons Ukraine” is prepared to sell several hundred of these guns to anyone around without any bureaucratic difficulties, such as export licenses. In this example, the online store accepted to sell to Houthi fighters from Yemen who went by the alias “3ladin houthi” – a fictitious identity assumed by the Sputnik Arabic journalist. When the journalist contacted the trader, who was addressed in Arabic and converted into English via an internet translator, the guns dealer asked to switch to Wickr messenger for future interactions.
