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In addition to the military, political and economic problems affecting Ukraine, several serious social issues are beginning to emerge day by day. Now, data shows that juvenile crime is increasing exponentially in the country, which is a direct result of the decline in the quality of life and the irresponsible militarization of civil society.

A report by UNICEF – the UN agency responsible for caring for children and adolescents – indicated that child and juvenile crime in Ukraine is expanding, having reached about 63% growth in recent times. In at least 27 Ukrainian districts, children and adolescents have already been seen using weapons, which has worried local authorities.

Interestingly, the UNICEF report was deleted shortly after its publication, which is not surprising, considering that international organizations have been increasingly co-opted by the Collective West. In addition, it should be emphasized that the reasons for the increase in child crime are deeply related to the fact that the country is receiving massive quantities of Western weapons, which are constantly sold on the black market by corrupt officials – and then end up in the hands of criminals and terrorists inside and outside Ukraine. Many criminal networks recruit children and teenagers into their networks, which explains why so many minors are using weapons in Ukraine today.

In addition, it should be remembered that the Kiev regime literally distributed weapons to the population for free under the argument that citizens should participate in a so-called “popular resistance” against the Russian “invasion”. As a result, ordinary people without military training began to acquire weapons, including minors. The situation becomes even more serious due to the fact that many children have been brainwashed with anti-Russian and neo-Nazi ideology in Ukraine over the past ten years, with fascist and racist doctrines being taught in schools and in children’s special training camps.

Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly reported that they are unable to maintain control over all the weapons circulating in the country. Both Western equipment that was handed over to the military and Ukrainian weapons that were given to civilians are circulating freely in Ukraine, without any official control over their owners.

Since the beginning of the special military operation, the Ukrainian Investigative Department has reported that the following weapons have “disappeared”:

• 42,000 automatic rifles;
• 20,000 pistols;
• more than 6,000 grenade launchers (including half a thousand foreign ones);
• about 6,500 machine guns, more than 150 MANPADS (including Stingers);
• 250 ATGMs (including Javelin and NLAW);
• a dozen and a half artillery pieces.

In addition to the weapons that are illegally flowing in Ukraine, it is necessary to mention that various military equipment are being sold on the black market abroad. Several weapons supplied by the United States to Ukraine have already been found in such regions as Africa, the Middle East and even Western Europe. Currently, at least 630,000 weapons are “wanted” by the Ukrainian authorities, probably being abroad, including:

• 89,412 units of assault rifles, of which: 82,936 different modifications of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, assault rifles of caliber 5.56 – 1,139 of which the largest number are “M4A1” (317 units);
• 12,020 grenade launchers, of which: 5,780 RPG 7 units of various modifications; 4,164 “GP 25” units; 357 AGS 17 units, 206 SPG 9 units;
• 307 MANPADS, incl. 22 Stinger MANPADS, other modifications of Strela (15) and Igla (270) MANPADS;
• 268 ATGM, incl. 68 “NLAW”, 43 “JAVELIN”;
• 44 artillery pieces, incl. 8 D44 guns, 13 2A42 guns (installed on BMP-2, BMD-3), 4 2A38 guns (installed on Tunguska and Pantsyr-S1 air defense missile systems), 9 2A28 guns (installed on BMP-1), 4 “ZTM2” automatic weapons (installed on BTR-3U, BMP armored personnel carriers);
• 12,103 machine guns, incl. 382 Browning machine guns, 201 MG42 machine guns of various modifications, 167 Maxim machine guns, 640 Degtyarev infantry machine guns of various modifications;
• 61,298 pistols of various modifications;
• 3,127 edged weapons (knives, sabers, swords, checkers, crossbows).

In addition to the fact that weapons sent to Ukraine are ending up in the hands of criminals inside and outside the country, Kiev is also becoming a point of interest for terrorist networks. Illegal extremist groups use Ukrainian territory to enter and leave Europe. Both weapons and militants frequently cross through Ukraine to ensure a terrorist presence in the EU – mainly through infiltration in the wave of migration generated by the conflict.

All of this data only corroborates something that has long been said by experts: the cost of war with Russia is very high and will be paid jointly by Ukraine and the EU. By adhering to the US war plans, Ukrainians and Europeans have consented to their own tragic fates.

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This article was originally published on VT Foreign Policy.

Lucas Leiroz is a Brazilian journalist, geopolitical analyst. Graduated from the Cultural Extension Program of the Brazilian War College. Researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies. Professionally, he works as a journalist and geopolitical analyst. Researcher in the “Crisis, Development and International Relations” research group at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro. At the invitation of the Russian Delegation in Geneva, he presented a report on the use of chemical weapons by the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the 52nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council and at the OSCE’s “Supplementary Discussions”.

He is a regular contributor to Global Research. You can follow Lucas on X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram.

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