From Kiev to Gaza: How NATO weapons found on Gaza battlefield & in hot spots around the world?

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From Kiev to Gaza: NATO weapons found on Gaza battlefield?

From Kiev to Gaza: NATO weapons found on Gaza battlefield?​

NOVEMBER 10, 2023 / 0 COMMENTS
By: Martin Jay, Islander Exclusive
The government admits that British arms were being resold onto black market
Senior MP reveals a huge package of measures to track UK equipment
US and UK arms showing up with Mexican drug cartels and terror groups in Africa
Nigerian president claims arms from Ukraine funding wars in Central Africa
Ben Wallace says Africa victim of “Russian disinformation”
Top MP concedes the government still can’t find them after they leave for battlefield
Some British weapons could end up with Hamas fighters in Gaza (video sources)

Video seen by The Islander believed to be made by a hamas fighter, showing off his stock of UK and Swedish made anti tank weapons in Gaza
Previous concerns that UK arms were being resold on the black market and even ending up in hot spots around the world, being used against Western allies are mounting and concerning the British government.
Officially though, the government, despite admitting that they have taken a series of new measures to prevent UK equipment from being resold in Ukraine, is in hot denial and sticking to the “Russian disinformation” line.
Just recently though more experts – many even respected ones from the West – are lining up to question it.
They have revealed that a number of arms shipments from the UK are ending up in Libya, Lebanon, Iraq and Somalia before being sold to South American countries. In some cases, some claim, they are even being sent to Iran in small quantities – with always the worry that they could be sent to the Palestinians fighting in Gaza today.
Previously, the Daily Mail established that none of the UK’s shipments to the Ukraine had any tracking devices integrated into them. We can subsequently reveal that since the Daily Mail investigation in July 2022, the government has shifted its policy to take the subject more seriously adopting a series of radical measures.
A tracking device is now integrated into all pieces of British military equipment, according to Alicia Kearns MP who is the Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee overseeing arms shipments to Ukraine.

Alicia Kearns
“The 70% figure is not at all realistic,” she told The Islander in an exclusive interview when asked about the percentage of kit being resold. Then, speaking about a new system of accountability in Kiev, she adds that “it won’t be perfect, but their new tracking systems have evolved in the last 12 months” requirements the government secured from Kiev, including a number of new measures to prevent British armoured vehicles, for example, disappearing.
However, Mrs Kearns did admit that not all of the equipment, despite the new departments, software, procedures and new rules, could actually be found. When specifically pushed on the subject of whether the government could find the location of British equipment in Ukraine, she was less clear: “As I understand it – to a great extent, yes” she cautiously replied.
In reality, according to our own investigations, once the equipment leaves Kiev and goes to battle, the government loses trace of the weapons, according to a number of high-profile Western analysts familiar with the subject.
World leaders, arms experts, academics and mercenaries are all now claiming though that at a considerable amount of US and UK-made equipment sent to Ukraine is being resold prompting concerns that the new tracking system needs to be improved and that the MOD’s blanket policy of dismissing all claims as “Russian disinformation” might be losing its edge.
“There is a distinct lack of credibility in the UK government citing ‘Russian disinformation’ in claims UK arms are being resold in Ukraine given the UK does not have mechanisms in place to track the weapons it has gifted or sold to Ukraine,” says Emily Apple of the Campaign Against Arms Trade, a London based pressure group which doesn’t believe there are any checks or safeguards in place.
“Without these safeguards in place, it is impossible for the government to state with such certainty that UK weapons are not being sold illegally, especially given Ukraine’s poor history in this area” she told the Islander. “Pumping arms into a region with no accountability is only going to lead to more devastation and global instability”, explained Miss Apple.
Even the former President of Nigeria, a key ally of Britain and the US, recently complained to ‘Voice of America’ about instability in the Sahel region which was, he claimed, directly linked to the inflow of cheap black market arms from Ukraine.
However, the British government is still not listening and has its own views which it offers no evidence to support.
Mrs. Kearns rejected claims by the Nigerian head of state that such weapons were in circulation in central Africa. Ben Wallace MP, the former defense secretary, also was dismissive of Muhammadu Buhari’s recent claims about Ukrainian weapons, ludicrously suggesting they were based on Russian disinformation in Africa and that the former President of Nigeria was misinformed. “I don’t take his comments seriously” a fuming Mr Wallace replied in a series of aggressive text messages which even denigrated to insulting the journalist at one point. “I look forward to you going to Nigeria for proof” he added before blocking him on Whatsapp.

Wallace (left) with Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov
“Ben Wallace’s response to the former Nigerian president is patronising and dismissive” responded Emily Apple from CAAT. “Such accusations from a credible source should ring alarm bells with any responsible government, and dismissing such claims as Russian disinformation without investigation or providing proof is dangerous posturing” she added.
So the policy is simply one of denial and linear thinking which blocks out any possibility of debate or accountability. Furthermore, there are a growing number of Western analysts who reject the “Russian disinformation” catch-all response – even former top brass in the US military.
“Ukraine swims in a sea of corruption” says Colonel ‘Doug’ Macgregor, a former Trump advisor and veteran of the Gulf War in 1991. “UA officer corps is heavily involved in the larger grift. Commanders maintain soldiers on the active roles who were killed in action to pocket their salaries. This leaves widows and orphans destitute” he explained to the Islander. “The notion that the US or UK authorities can track with precision or certainty where all of the weapons sent to Ukraine go is untrue” he added.
Mr. Wallace’s and Mrs. Kearn’s response to the claims that NATO arms are fuelling the terrorism in the Sahel is simply that they have not seen any evidence of this. But have they looked for it? The government could commission a study in the region but chooses not to. And for very good reason.

 

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New Assault rifles in the Sahel

Photos like this may well be a thing of the past as the AK47 is slowly being replaced by NATO assault rifles via Ukraine
Furthermore, there is, in fact, evidence if the government wants to look, that the phenomenon that Buhari is talking about is real. Even the United Nations recently accepted that NATO weapons were being bought by terror groups in the region. A recent report revealed “in the background, the illicit weapons trade perpetuates the chaos”, it stated. ”The UNODC report showed that flows of illegal arms from Libya have expanded to include newly manufactured assault rifles”.

More affluent terrorist groups are buying western made assault rifles (like the M4 Carbine pictured above) as a status symbol, indicating their wealth and power over poorer groups stuck with the AK
Given Libya’s reputation for international arms smuggling, its proximity to the conflict and links to Ukraine through grain shipments it is hardly far-fetched to assume that these brand-new weapons are coming from the Ukraine war. And why doesn’t the UN specify which country these rifles come from?

One potential outcome is a shift in Western public opinion against the Ukraine conflict if it becomes widely believed that NATO equipment is being diverted from the Ukrainian theatre to numerous other conflicts globally in alarming quantities. This would add yet another error to the West’s catalogue of miscalculations. However, the pressing question remains: How much longer can the government’s apparent pusillanimity in addressing these increasingly frequent claims from diverse sources continue? Is there something that Whitehall is concealing?

Now, the MOD and government ministers are going to have to stake their reputations on a young American journalist who joined the Russians in Eastern Ukraine – whose claims will embarrass them, if proved to be accurate.

Russell Bentley, a war correspondent from Texas who joined the Donbass militia in December of last year is convinced that the business is carried out within Ukraine, using the dark web, with Ukraine’s grain ships the main means of transporting them to the rest of the world.

Russell “Texas” Bentley
“There are numerous photos on DarkNet showing American weapons, such as the M-16, for sale and available for purchase with cryptocurrency. The geography of delivery is very different, but the weapons are coming from Ukraine,” he explained in a recent interview.

He agrees with the assertion made by a Russian human rights organisation that the main routes of “black re-export” of Western weapons are sea transportation from the ports of Odessa, Nikolaev and Izmail under the guise of grain.

“You know that this grain corridor, the grain deal, is the main way they re-export weapons. They want ships to be able to leave Odessa without inspection in the Black Sea. The Ukrainians put 100,000 tons of weapons on a ship and then put 50 tons of grain on it and say, ‘we have a humanitarian mission.’ We can be sure that as long as the weapons are going to Ukraine, they will be diverted around the world for criminals and terrorists to use to kill innocent people,” according to Russell Bentley.

Normally such claims would be dismissed by the MOD as “disinformation” especially given the institution in Moscow, despite the UK government having a track record of misleading the public over international arms sales in general to countries with poor human rights records. Even the standard “Russian disinformation” line, established by the Americans, is wearing thin given that the current investigations into Joe Biden by the FBI about alleged bribery in Ukraine when he was Vice President was also dismissed as “Russian disinformation” when it was broken by the New York Post just before he was elected in 2020.

 

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The Mexican”

But enquiries made by the Islander show that they appear to hold water as there are examples of arms being sold by the Ukrainian army to jihadists in Idlib in Northern Syria in smaller numbers. On a larger scale, the Sahel region also cannot be dismissed so summarily by Mr Wallace or Mrs Kearns without it at least being disproved by the government’s foreign intelligence agencies. Libya, is after all, a port on the grain shipment destinations from Ukraine and is a country with probably the largest gun market in the world, next door to the Sahel region.


Just recently Euronews, an EU-funded multi-lingual broadcaster based in Lyons, made a report debunking a Mexican TV report about drug cartels having Ukrainian arms. The issue was about whether one militant was carrying a US-made javelin missile.

However, Euronews which has a strong editorial agenda supporting Brussels, did not look at the possibility that the javelin-type rocket launcher might have come from another NATO country or one of their proxies.

“Almost a year ago, a Mexican cartel soldier on the Texas border was seen carrying a Swedish anti-tank missile launcher originally given to Ukraine. Somehow it ended up in the hands of Mexico’s drug cartels” claims Bentley. “If the weapons end up in the hands of Mexican cartels, that means they are travelling across the world. Mexico is the target market for these weapons,” said Russell Bentley, in an interview with Mira Terada, head of the Foundation to Battle Injustice.

A former SAS officer, Robin Horsfall doesn’t buy into the idea of organised crime groups in the Ukraine close to President Zelensky reselling NATO equipment, despite the country being acknowledged as being one of the most corrupt countries in the world. But he does admit a corruption problem and that pilfering is inevitable in wars.

“Corruption is endemic, especially when large quantities of materiel are being shipped. Some will always be skimmed from the top” he told the Islander. “The driver will steal a few gallons of fuel, a truck will lose some food, a box of ammo, some uniforms. It is an impossible task to eradicate theft in war. Convoys get ambushed and the detritus is gathered and tucked away for a rainy day. Some farmers have damaged T72s in their barns”.

“The best that can be achieved is sufficient control to keep the losses within limits that do not affect the war effort” adds Mr Horsfall. “Some pundits will claim ‘losses are huge’ but compared to what? Compared to the tens of billions being donated monthly?”.

Yet larceny could be on a massive scale given the size of the Ukrainian army and Mr Horsfall fails to accept that the UK government has its own reasons for manipulating the truth itself.

 

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Russian dolls

“Concerns about NATO weapons ending up with criminals and terrorists are repudiated simply because it threatens public support for the war” counters Prof Glen Diesen, a security and geopolitical expert with the University of South-Eastern Norway. “Unsubstantiated accusations of disinformation, propaganda and conspiracy theories are commonly used to censor and cancel those who threaten to undermine support for the war” he told the Islander in an interview.

Retired Col. Doug MacGregor agrees but goes further. “London, like Washington, Paris, Berlin, etc… are all concerned about the eroding support for NATO’s proxy war with Russia in Ukraine” he told the islander. “In this sense, the truth about events on the ground in Ukraine, as well as the widespread corruption is the enemy. Just imagine, that many, many wounded Ukrainian Soldiers and Officers are forced to bribe ambulances to take them to hospital. This is in part because the medical evaluation means are inadequate, but it’s also another critical indicator of just how bad things are in Ukraine” he adds.

And so what is the truth? A clearer explanation which could clarify the ambiguity about the subject of UK or NATO arms ending up in some of these hotspots is one that the UK government would be reluctant to elaborate on, as it paints a poor picture of Ukraine’s endeavours in the war: that a lot of British made equipment may be distributed by the Russians who are capturing it in battle. As the Ukrainian Army increasingly crumbles, the Russians are capturing more western weapons by the day, and since they don’t produce ammo for these weapons, they are of limited use to the Russian Army.

What is not reported in the western press though is that Russian units are taking vehicles and tanks, intact, from surrendering Ukrainian soldiers as part of a deal struck on the battlefield for good treatment. According to Mark Sleboda, a former US Navy officer and security expert, this is common. “Without the slightest doubt. There are plenty pro-Western NGOs who have written reports on it” he told the Islander. “Russia is offering a reward for kit to surrendering Ukrainians. At least for APCS, IFV’s and tanks. Probably lesser for MANPADS and ATGMS…that is not a secret”.

It is unclear how many weapons the Russians have obtained in this way, but judging from their own statements and releases it appears that the Russians are primarily interested in getting working tech for testing and evaluation purposes through this program. Data gleaned from captured NATO weapons has been indispensable for Russia on the battlefield, allowing them to create countermeasures for the high tech toys. These bounty programs are not yielding enough weapons to make a difference in the overseas market, meaning the bulk of these arms must come from elsewhere.

Sleboda also has no doubts at all about Kiev reselling NATO weapons.

“We KNOW large numbers of Western weapons are sold from Ukraine distribution system onto the global black market” the former US Navy officer adds. “But identifying any particular weapon’s origin is hard”.

Regarding the flow of equipment, it appears relatively straightforward to arrive at the frequently cited statistic that merely 30% of the military aid reaches or remains with the Ukrainian soldiers in combat. When considering the assertions from both Ukrainian and Russian military personnel, these two streams of arms trafficking might well account for the observed discrepancies and the claims made. Specifically, if the minor pilferage by Ukrainian forces and the more systematic reselling by Kyiv’s upper echelon represent a modest estimate of 20% of all supplied equipment. Naturally, a more substantial proportion is likely to be recaptured by Russian forces—potentially up to 50%.

According to the west, these arms flow through Russia’s foothold in Libya, where Wagner forces help control at least half of the country and could easily arrange shipments to the Sahel countries or South America, playing the same games in the region which NATO has for decades. While our enquiries have rejected allegations made by the Foundation to Battle Injustice that grain shipments to Somalia and Lebanon are being used to ship arms, the case of Libya cannot be dismissed. Ironically, the indifferent denial from the government to even accept the practice is happening actually allows it to continue.

The great irony, of course, is that NATO sells both their own and captured Russian arms in almost unlimited quantities to every anti-Russian force on earth, but is then shocked and appalled when Russia arms it’s own allies in response. The harsh truth that the British government will not face is simple. If they did not sell these arms in the first place, none of them would ever be used against them or their allies.

 

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British-made NLAWs in Iran

There are also very real worries that UK anti-tank weapons could be sent to Hamas in Gaza from Iran.

NLAW missile in use by Ukrainian forces. Source: defensenews.com
In November of last year, Russia had reportedly given the Islamic Republic of Iran UK anti-tank missiles seized from the Ukrainian army in exchange for drones used in the military campaign in Ukraine, according to The Telegraph. The source for their claims are the usual unnamed government sources, meaning the information is suspect and provided without evidence, as is typical.

According to the British, the Russians seized British and US state-of-the-art weapons from the Ukrainian army and flew the equipment in a Russian military aircraft to Tehran in August of last year, as well as $139 million in cash, as Sky News also reported.

The Russian military cargo plane was allegedly carrying British NLAW anti-tank missile, US Javelin anti-tank missiles and US Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. The weapons were intended for the Ukrainian army but “fell into the wrong hands” in the Ukrainian war, Sky News said. The British are quick to blame the Russians, perhaps seeking to protect a Ukrainian government that openly works with black market arms dealers.

The same pundits both in government or those who support the feeble narrative like Mr. Horsfall who bluntly refuse to investigate for themselves the resale of NATO weapons on the black market and who also call “Russian disinformation” to everything presented to them, are also naively refusing point blank the idea of British arms ending up in the hands of Hamas fighters (please see accompanying videos) –even going as far as writing threatening, insulting letters to the author. Mr Horsfall, for example, indulges himself in the notion that Zelensky has cleaned up corruption by firing one or two ministers apparently caught in the act, while woefully refusing to see that the President’s personal wealth is estimated by Forbes to be over a billion dollars. Many in Whitehall, like the former SAS soldier refuse to see that the former actor could simply be putting on a show for his Western backers.

The British government for its part refuses to look too deeply into the problem and presents its own work as a comical dichotomy of logic.

“It seems dishonest to deny that there was ever a problem and simultaneously claim that new measures have been implemented to address the problem that never existed” comments Professor Diesen. “However, the commonality of these two statements is the desire to manage public concerns about NATO weapons ending up in the hands of criminals and terrorists” he explains.

“The UK government faces a dilemma: Does the government pursue a transparent investigation about where its weapons end up, or does it prioritize upholding public support for the war by suppressing inconvenient facts?” he asks.

 

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Hamas myth busting

There is a similar narrow and naïve mindset applied to Hamas.


Typically, the argument is that Hamas doesn’t need such weapons, bought or given, as they are being supplied anyway by Iran – a narrative patently flawed by this video shot by a Hamas fighter days after a hospital was bombed by the IDF in Gaza, where a number of anti-tank weapons from the UK and Sweden can be clearly seen. (Confirmed by former US Navy officer Mark Sleboda to be British NAWL and Swedish-made AT4)

But such so-called Western experts also refuse to explore the possibility of Iranian fighters aiding Hamas, as they did with the Syrian army during the war in Syria against Western-backed jihadists. The somewhat childish trend is to oversimplify the issue. Iran always has best-of-breed weapons in its battles and would be happy to use UK-made weapons against Israel.

According to Alicia Kearns the idea that UK arms are being sent to Hamas is unlikely although the British MP admits she is relying only on the word of Israel’s Defense Forces (IDF).

“Lt Colonel Adraee of the IDF has dismissed this as ‘fabrications and lies,’” she told our reporter.

But don’t hold your breath for any detailed, analytical appraisal of the situation to NATO or British arms being resold on the international black market. The government refuses to analyze Libya or the Sahel or even look deeper at where British-made APCs are ending up. They know, from the numbers which are destroyed in the Ukraine war, how many are taken – by whatever means – by Russian forces. But they won’t release this incendiary data, as, probably the number will be shockingly high and the estimation of 70% being lost to be resold, would be supported. The response from the UK government will always be “Russian disinformation” to conveniently block any attempts at looking too closely into the subject, some of whom will be intimidated by a bullying ex defence minister (Wallace) or threatening emails from an ex-SAS soldier who has them in their sights. But how much longer can the government play this card? The answer is only until one of our armoured vehicles turns up being used by ISIS or Al Qaeda groups in central Africa, or anti-tank weapons being used by a fighter in Gaza. Or Mexican drug cartels. When that happens, wait for these same pundits to blame and project onto the Russians again for arranging it while they deny that the photos are genuine or even that they were planted deliberately as part of a nefarious plot by the Russians to undermine the West.