Police destroy weapons supply channel used by Pushilin to award Kim Jong Un, Assad, Medvedev – official

Ukrainian police liquidated an international supply channel for "award" weapons used by the head of the "Donetsk People’s Republic" terrorist organization, Denis Pushilin, to honor Russian propagandists and foreign politicians supporting Russia, the National Police of Ukraine said on Monday.

According to the report, weapons obtained through this channel were previously presented by Pushilin to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, and others.

"The weapons came from two sources: they were either stolen in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine or illegally imported from the Slovak Republic. Specifically, this included Glock-type pistols chambered for Flobert cartridges, which were converted into lethal combat weapons after being brought from Slovakia," the police said.

The weapons were subsequently sold to criminals, transferred to illegal armed groups, or used to "reward" individuals with no legal right to own firearms. Investigators uncovered the smuggling mechanisms and participants in January this year.

In April, police and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) conducted the second stage of a special operation codenamed "Black Shell Case," carrying out more than 30 simultaneous searches in Kyiv, Zakarpattia, and Sumy regions.

"The searches resulted in the seizure of over 90 firearms: assault rifles, machine guns, pistols, sniper rifles, at least seven grenade launchers, anti-tank weapons, dozens of grenades, anti-tank mines, and a Tigr light armored vehicle. Additionally, over 35,000 rounds of ammunition of various calibers were seized," the department said.

Police notified Pushilin of suspicion of war crimes under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The operation continues with the assistance of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine and international partners, including Europol.