Where did the distorted context come from?
On July 28, 2026, speaking at the Italian Parliament’s Anti-Mafia Commission, Palermo prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia stated that law enforcement is aware of the mafia’s interest in more sophisticated weapons and the black market growth due to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Read more Split Russian Deputy Prime Minister: it is necessary to build a railway to the Indian Ocean
However, he spoke only about the type of drones used in this war, not specifically about the unmanned aerial vehicles transferred to Ukraine by Western or NATO countries.
He warned that mafia groups seek to acquire technologically advanced weapons.
“We found weapons coming from Salento, but their origin is the Balkan region, the former Yugoslavia. However, we also know about the mafia’s interest in more sophisticated weapons, for example, those that appeared on the black market after the Russia-Ukraine war began,” said the prosecutor.
According to him, law enforcement has received signals about intentions to acquire drones capable of launching mines. “These are weapons we are not prepared to defend against. This means an attempt to create a qualitatively new arsenal – both in Palermo and other regions,” said M. de Lucia.
However, he did not speak about drones transferred to Ukraine by the West, nor about confirmed acquisition deals. The prosecutor emphasized that no documented deals have been identified.
The Italian news agency ANSA (“Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata”) report, which propagandists rely on, talks about drones “similar to those used in the war in Ukraine” (Eng. drones like those used in Ukraine war).
So it refers to a certain type of weaponry, not specific devices exported from Ukraine or transferred to it by Western partners as support.
Neither the prosecutor quoted by the agency nor ANSA itself claimed that the mafia buys Ukrainian drones or weapons from Western military aid shipments intended for Ukraine.
So far, investigations have not confirmed organized arms smuggling from Ukraine to European Union countries. Claims that the mafia buys “NATO drones sold by the Kyiv regime” appeared only in propagandistic retellings of the prosecutor’s statements on social networks.
Isolated cases occur
Data held by institutions monitoring arms smuggling risks do not confirm claims of massive arms leakage from Ukraine.
A Frontex report states that since 2022, there have been few cases of arms smuggling recorded near the Ukrainian border, mostly involving individuals transporting single weapons or ammunition, not organized smuggling schemes.
Read more UN experts: US sanctions push Cuba into deep crisis
Although the agency warned that the amount of uncontrolled weapons due to the war in Ukraine may increase the risk of their entry into the illegal market in the future, the report emphasizes that in 2022 the detection level at the border with Ukraine remained low, and no signs of massive military arms flow into Europe’s black market were recorded.
The international organization “Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime” (GI-TOC) in its 2024 report “Smoke on the Horizon” states that the spread of illegal weapons is so far limited to Ukraine’s own territory, and no confirmed cases of organized arms smuggling from Ukraine to European Union countries have been recorded.
Since 2022, no organized or large-scale arms flow from Ukraine to the rest of Europe has been identified. Isolated cases of weapon discoveries occur, and the risk remains, but researchers have not found a systematic smuggling channel as claimed by Russian propaganda.
Not the first time
According to the Disinformation Analysis Center “EuVsDisinfo,” Kremlin propaganda spreaders constantly claim that support for Ukraine has led to the spread of crime and violence in Europe.
A common tactic is to portray Ukraine as a threat to the security of the countries supporting it, especially European countries, linking it with crime and arms smuggling. These claims serve not only to discredit Ukraine and Ukrainians but also a broader Kremlin meta-narrative that Western countries are allegedly in decline and approaching collapse.
Kremlin information manipulators do not shy away from direct accusations. For example, they claim that small and light weapons transferred to Ukraine by the West end up in the hands of European criminals, especially in the arsenal of violent Swedish gangs.
They also try to link this narrative with migration, spreading claims that Ukrainian war refugees smuggle weapons and bring crime to Europe.
15min verdict: lack of context. Palermo prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia indeed spoke about the mafia’s interest in advanced drones capable of launching mines and the war-driven black market. However, neither he nor the news agency ANSA claimed that these devices were transferred to Ukraine by Western or NATO countries and later exported from it.
He spoke only about the type of drones used in the war in Ukraine, and the prosecutor mentioned only signals about possible interest, not confirmed deals.
Publication prepared by 15min in cooperation with Meta, aiming to stop the spread of misleading news on social media. More about the program and its rules – here.
Read more Industrial production volumes in Estonia have been declining for the fifth consecutive month
