An assault rifle, a pistol and 150 rounds: another "arms baron" exposed in Mykolaiv

In Mykolaiv, law enforcement officers exposed a 37-year-old local resident who is suspected of illegally selling weapons and ammunition. This was reported on 1 June 2026 by the Mykolaiv region police.

According to the investigation, the man, for a monetary reward, sold an assault rifle, a pistol, five magazines and 150 rounds of various calibers. He was detained immediately after the sale in procedural order. The suspect’s illegal activity was uncovered by officers of Police Station No. 2 of the Mykolaiv District Police Department together with officers of the regional SBU, with force support from KORD fighters and under the procedural guidance of the Mykolaiv City District Prosecutor’s Office.

At the scene, law enforcement seized money which, according to the investigation, the man received from the illegal sale. The seized weapons and ammunition were sent for expert examination. Investigators detained the suspect in accordance with Art. 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. Under the procedural guidance of the prosecutor’s office, he was notified of suspicion under Part 1 of Art. 263 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – illegal handling of weapons, ammunition or explosive substances. Under the charged article the man faces up to seven years of imprisonment. Currently the court has imposed house arrest as the preventive measure on the suspect. Law enforcement are also establishing how the weapons reached the suspect. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

Reminder: previously we wrote:

• Illegal flow of weapons to Russian-occupied territories: police uncovered a dangerous channel of contraband weapons
• Pistols and grenades “at the ready”: a garage weapons cache found in Mykolaiv
• Grenades, ammunition and drugs: a 29-year-old man was detained in Mykolaiv
• A grenade, a shotgun, a pistol and 2.3 kg of cannabis: a man was detained in Mykolaiv with an arsenal of weapons and a supply of drugs
• Grenades and ammunition were sold for cash: a “death dealer” was exposed in the Mykolaiv region