US Sends Seized Weapons, Ammo to Ukrainian Military

The U.S. last week transferred thousands of weapons and rounds of ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces that were confiscated from unflagged vessels en route to Yemen from Iran as part of a civil forfeiture action, DOJ announced on April 9. The shipment included "over 5,000 AK-47s, machine guns, sniper rifles, and RPG-7s, and over 500,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition."

The firearms were seized from two vessels in 2021 and two in 2023, and were found to be "primarily of either Iranian, Chinese, or Russian origin," DOJ said. The ammunition was seized as part of a March 2023 forfeiture action and included over 1 million rounds en route to Yemen.

The two seizure cases "addressed the illicit trafficking of advanced conventional weapons systems and components by sanctioned Iranian entities that directly support military action by the Houthi movement in Yemen and the Iranian regime’s campaign of terrorist activities throughout the region," DOJ said.