The Ukrainian authorities are accused of selling weapons received in the aid to foreign countries, including the dreaded Mexican drug cartels, reports claimed, citing US journalists.
A significant portion of those weapons have ended up in the hands of US enemies, including the militant groups in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia.
As per reports, some of the aid has ended up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels, who are actively involved in global arms smuggling, supplying weapons to militant groups, especially those operating in South Asia, therefore raising significant concerns across the international community.
“Up to half of US aid sent to Ukraine ended up on international black markets,” Tucker Carlson said.
“The Ukrainian military is selling a huge percentage—up to half—of the arms that we send them. I know this for a fact,” Carlson claimed, without disclosing his sources or providing specific evidence.
Carlson said Washington is providing Kiev with “hundreds of billions of dollars” worth of arms, a significant portion of which is being “stolen and sold to our actual enemies,” including “drug cartels on our border.”
He also claimed that weapons from Ukraine can easily be purchased online, describing the situation as a “crime” and a “nightmare.”
Since 2022, the US Congress has authorised approximately $175 billion in aid for Ukraine, the majority in the form of weapons and ammunition.
However, a large portion of that funding has reportedly been allocated to American industries and other US government activities related to the conflict.
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In January, US President Donald Trump claimed that Washington had spent “$200 billion more than the EU” on aid to Kiev.
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky later stated that Kiev had received just over $75 billion in military and other forms of assistance from Washington, adding that he had no idea where Trump’s estimate of $200 billion originated or where it could have vanished.
Moscow has warned that the unchecked supply of Western weapons to Ukraine has led to a large number of arms falling into the hands of organised criminal groups and extremists worldwide.
However, it is unclear whether the Ukrainian authorities or the guerrilla factions and mercenaries operating on both sides are involved in the alleged arms smuggling.
During the offensive in Kursk, Donbas and several other regions Russian forces also seized a large cache of unused ordinance, the possibility of Russian mercenaries selling these weapons cannot be ruled out either.
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