Since Russia began its war against Ukraine, Western nations have pledged more than $10 billion in military support, from portable missile launchers and armored vehicles to rifles and massive amounts of ammunition. Some NATO member states are discussing with Kyiv some form of tracking system or detailed inventory lists of weapons supplied to Ukraine, two Western officials briefed on the talks told the Financial Times. Ukraine’s government is building a more extensive weapons tracking and tracing system with help from Western countries, a third person familiar with the situation said. “All these weapons are landed in southern Poland, sent to the border and then divided into vehicles to pass: trucks, vans, sometimes private cars,” one of the Western officials said. “And since that time, we don’t know their location and we have no idea where they are going, where they are being used, or even if they are staying in the country.” The possibility that US weapons sent to Ukraine could fall into the wrong hands is “among a host of concerns” given the “challenging situation” on the ground in the country, said Bonnie Denise Jenkins, US undersecretary for arms control and international security. on Tuesday. “The US takes very seriously our responsibility to protect US-origin defense technologies and prevent their diversion or illicit proliferation,” Jenkins told reporters in Brussels, adding that the US was in “constant contact” with Kyiv about issue. “We are confident in the Ukrainian government’s commitment to protect and properly account for the US [weapons]Jenkins added. Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister, said: “Any movement of arms either to Ukraine or out of Ukraine – when such movement is required for repairs when necessary – is very closely monitored and supervised by both Ukraine and the our international partners. The issue of arms smuggling from Ukraine was discussed at a meeting of EU interior ministers this week, while on Monday the European Commission launched an “EU Support Hub” in neighboring Moldova to provide expertise and cooperation to combat issues such as arms smuggling . “It’s difficult to avoid smuggling or smuggling – we didn’t succeed in the former Yugoslavia and probably won’t avoid it in Ukraine,” Jana Chernohova, the Czech defense minister, told reporters in Prague on Friday. He said he believed donor countries were taking all the necessary steps to track the weapons, but warned it would not be possible to track every element.

Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency, said in April that its investigations showed that arms trafficking from Ukraine to the bloc to supply organized crime groups had begun and posed a potential threat to EU security. “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has resulted in the proliferation of a significant number of firearms and explosives in the country,” Europol said in a briefing note sent to governments. “Initially, Ukrainian officials kept registers of firearms distributed to civilians, but this practice was abandoned as the war progressed and since then firearms have been distributed without records,” it said, calling for “a register of weapons and other military equipment transferred from the EU in Ukraine” to help law enforcement agencies track them. “Reports that Ukraine is becoming a major hub for arms smuggling are untrue,” Sack said, suggesting that those making such claims “could be part of Russia’s information war to discourage international partners from supplying Ukraine weapons essential to our victory. “.