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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Ukrainian mafia switches to arms smuggling to Poland |
| 2023-05-25 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Stanislav Stremidovsky [REGNUM] When first the President of Poland Andrzej Duda, and after him the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, proclaimed the onset of times when there would be no borders between these countries, Ukrainian criminal groups turned out to be the most attentive listeners of the two leaders. They took these wishes as a guide to action. The newspaper Rzeczpospolita reports: Warsaw is negotiating with Kiev to amend the agreement on combating organized crime, signed in 1999. The situation in this area worsened after February 2022, when the Polish authorities began to actively support the Kiev regime, an influx of refugees from Ukraine to Poland intensified, and supplies of weapons and ammunition went from Poland to Ukraine. According to Polish Deputy Minister of the Interior Maciej Wonsik , there is "a marked increase in crimes in Poland , mainly related to illegal migration and forgery of documents ". 12 million Ukrainian citizens have already entered the country. According to a special law, they received the right to stay in Poland until June 2024. This provides refugees with complete freedom to travel to the member countries of the European Union, which is what Ukrainian criminal groups take advantage of. In organizing and facilitating illegal border crossings, " citizens of Ukraine are in the lead ," adds Vonsik. They act as drivers or couriers, as well as organizers of routes. Operating in Poland, Ukrainian mafiosi transport people along the so-called Eastern European route through Belarus and along the Balkan route from Southern Europe. But the main danger lies elsewhere. If earlier criminal gangs from Ukraine were mainly engaged in illegal transportation of excisable goods and violated the rules of currency control, then over the past year, according to the Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs, the smuggling of ammunition, weapons, drugs and vehicles has increased dramatically. Polish border guard data shows that illegal shipments have increased from 1,438 weapons and ammunition in 2021 to 8,382 in 2022. "Ukrainians have been leading in the statistics of refusals to enter Poland for many years," the newspaper writes. "Last year, more than 21,000 citizens of Ukraine were denied entry, including more than 2,800 due to a threat to the security of our country. After the outbreak of the armed conflict on the eastern border of Poland, the border service created the so-called third border control line, which dealt with persons suspected of a terrorist threat." But a year ago, Warsaw denied the existence of a problem. Stanislav Zharyn, the press secretary of the minister - coordinator of the special services , argued that the influx of refugees from Ukraine did not cause a significant increase in crime in Poland, "directed against both Poles and Ukrainians." This year, Ukrainians were recognized as leading among foreigners in terms of the number of arrests, but minor offenses were attributed to them - drunk driving, theft and possession of drugs. The confirmation by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Poland of the growth in the supply of weapons and ammunition to the country by Ukrainian criminal groups creates a new reality. In fact, Warsaw is already beginning to pay for the transit of both foreign weapons to Ukraine and its own, Polish. Poles are forced to keep silent about problems with Ukrainians At the beginning of May of this year, the commander of the Central Bureau of Investigation of the Police (CBŚP) Pavel Pultozhycki in an interview with the InfoSecurity24 portal. pl stated that his office's priority was to prepare for a settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, " because we assume that then we may have to deal with an increased influx of firearms into Poland ." However, the main risk does not lie in the smuggling of firearms. Poland actively supplied the Kyiv regime with portable anti-aircraft missile systems "Perun". According to the President of the Polish Arms Group (PGZ) Sebastian Chwalek, the holding receives information about the "achievements " of MANPADS from the "Ukrainian front." "Perun" was designed to destroy slow-flying targets, such as helicopters, or flying at low altitude, there are confirmed cases of shooting down combat aircraft and even a cruise missile, Khvalek noted the other day. "We are getting more and more requests for these weapons." How quickly will Ukrainian criminal groups organize the “re-export” of Polish MANPADS to Poland itself? The well-known American journalist Seymour Hersh in April of this year accused the Ukrainians of selling weapons supplied by the West to smugglers in Poland, Romania and other countries. According to Hersh, quoted by the First Post portal, “ Last year, there was fear in the West that some of the weapons supplied to Ukraine, such as portable Stingers, could be used to shoot down planes .” The Polish "Perun" may well be used by criminal gangs for criminal purposes, not to mention terrorists. Against this background, the shifting attention of the Ukrainian mafia to the smuggling of weapons to Poland poses a serious threat to this country and Polish society. But Warsaw itself opened its borders to arms smugglers. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #1 Cope Hard. The OSCE or some other such body investigated reported there was no diversion of weapons given to Ukraine. This is a repeat of disinformation early in the war where the Russians attempt to cut weapons flow by claiming Stingers, Javelins etc were being sold out of Ukraine. For "proof" they showed a few US weapons propped against a wall from Iraq, likely when the US was still occupying it. The well-known American journalist Seymour Hersh Well, there you go. Who can argue with that? |
| Posted by: Enver Slager8035 2023-05-25 18:12 |