Firearms confiscated by police on the streets of Miami will find a new lease of life on the battlefield in Ukraine.
A shipment of small arms, including assault rifles, handguns and ammunition, has arrived in Ukraine and is reportedly being readied for use on the frontline and by civilians.
A representative of the Ukrainian Parliament has thanked the Miami Police Department for their timely donation.
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.
Maryan Zablotskiy poses with a batch of assault rifles.
FACEBOOK/MARYAN ZABLOTSKIY
"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 charity Ukrainian Arsenal of Liberty has described the delivery of such weapons to a war zone as “unprecedented”.
The charity announced plans to transport weapons from the US to Ukraine on 6 December.
One package was said to have contained 148,000 cartridges.
FACEBOOK/MARYAN ZABLOTSKIY
Their mission statement reads: “Ukrainian parliament members founded the Ukrainian Arsenal of Liberty to make firearms accessible to Ukrainian civilians for self-defence against the Russian advance.
“We aim to solicit American citizens, organisations, and wholesalers to donate firearms, ammunition, and support equipment to the Ukraine cause that will be distributed directly to Ukrainian civilians.”
The City of Miami previously set up Guns4Ukraine, a voluntary gun buyback programme launched between June and August 2022.
Citizens were offered $50 (£39) per standard firearm, $100 (£78) for rifles and shotguns, and $150 (£115) for highly-prized AR-15 and AK-47 assault rifles, according to Forces.net.
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It comes amid Ukraine's counteroffensive
FACEBOOK/MARYAN ZABLOTSKIY
City of Miami Police Chief Manny Morales said at the time: "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."
It comes after Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Russian security council, claimed use of nuclear weapons would be justified due to a nuclear deterrence policy adopted by President Putin in 2020.
