Weapons confiscated from Miami streets donated to Ukraine by police

Small arms weapons, including assault rifles and handguns, have been donated to Ukraine by the Miami Police Department.

Twenty pistols and 82 rifles have arrived in Ukraine from the US after they were confiscated on the streets of Miami.

The delivery of such illegal weapons to a war zone has been described as 'unprecedented' by the charity the Ukrainian Arsenal of Liberty.

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Maryan Zablotskiy, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament and founder of the Ukrainian Arsenal of Liberty, said: "The first case in history of the transfer of small arms confiscated in the United States took place.

"One-hundred-and-one units are already in Kyiv.

"A gift from the police of the city of Miami, which was the first to decide on such a step.

"A wonderful donor donated 148,000 cartridges.

"Our Ukrainian Arsenal of Liberty project has officially started work."

The Ukrainian Arsenal of Liberty is a charity set up with the purpose of acquiring weapons for Ukraine.

Transportation of the weapons from America by the police was announced by the charity on 6 December 2022. The small arms weapons are now ready to be used by Ukraine against the invading Russian army.

The City of Miami set up its Guns4Ukraine voluntary gun buyback programme during the months of June and August 2022. The buyback events were conducted by members of the Police force. 

Citizens were offered $50 (£39) per firearm, and $100 (£78) for rifles and shotguns. Weapons like the AR-15 and the AK-47 were 'bought back' for $150 (£115).

City of Miami Police Chief Manny Morales said during the buyback event in June 2022: "We came out here, and the community came out here and showed great support for us.

"We were able to get 68 weapons and firearms off the street. It looks like a few of them after further examination and work on them will be fit to send over to our friends over in Ukraine.

"But this could have not happened without the generosity and support of Miami City Commissioner Ken Russell.

"Any weapon we collected will not fall into the wrong hands. How many lives were saved by this event we'll never know, but we'll keep up and working hard to keep our community safe, Miami safe. Thank you very much for your report and God bless."