Russians use ‘shadow fleet’ to smuggle weapons out of occupied Crimea
9.01.2026 - 16:42
Russian officers and “Kadyrov’s men” organized arms smuggling through occupied Crimea using “shadow fleet” ships.
The smuggling scheme was organized by Russian officers together with representatives of Kadyrov’s “Vostok-Akhmat” battalion, reports “Militarnyi”.
Ukrainian hackers “256 Cyber Assault Division” in cooperation with the international intelligence community InformNapalm established supply chains.
They found out that the weapons are initially transported to the occupied peninsula, which serves as a hub for further transportation to the black markets of Russia, as well as to countries in Europe, Western Asia and Africa.
According to the investigation, the Russians are using tankers of the so-called “shadow fleet” to export weapons from Crimea.
Among the Russian officers whose accounts were hacked is Yevgeny Dmitriev, a platoon commander of the Russian assault company “Storm V” of the 291st Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment (42nd MSD, 58th Combined Arms Army), currently operating in the Zaporizhia direction.
Dmitriev has been setting up a smuggling scheme since the summer of 2024 thanks to contacts with Kadyrov’s “Vostok-Akhmat” supporters. Thanks to these connections, the major and people in the scheme were warned about sudden checks by counterintelligence or the FSB, who, under the guise of buyers, are looking for people willing to sell weapons.
Smuggling loads are not checked at checkpoints. According to the data received, in the Zaporizhia and Kherson directions of the temporarily occupied territories, there is a stable “work schedule” of specific shifts of the Russian Guard at checkpoints on the R-280 highway in the Berdyansk – Melitopol – Chongar – Simferopol sections, which allow suspicious cargo to pass through.
Cargo is transported either without inspection at all, or in exchange for a reward, despite the inconsistency of documents.
Photo: InformNapalm.Earlier, USM reported that the owner of the tanker seized by the US is a businessman from occupied Crimea.
