A Georgian court has sentenced two Ukrainian nationals to seven and ten years in prison respectively after they were convicted of illegally acquiring, storing, transporting, and selling hexogen—a military-grade explosive known as RDX—into Georgia.

In September 2025, Georgian security services discovered 2.4 kilograms of RDX hidden inside a Mercedes-Benz truck with Ukrainian license plates. The vehicle reportedly entered Georgia through the Sarpi crossing from Türkiye, having traveled via Romania and Bulgaria.

The Tbilisi City Court stated the defendants were found guilty of illegally acquiring, storing, carrying, and selling explosives as well as smuggling them across Georgian customs borders. Investigators confirmed the explosives were intended for a residential building in Tbilisi’s Avlabari district. Although the truck driver claimed the shipment was destined for Russia under an operation called “Operation Spiderweb 2,” Georgia’s security authorities noted evidence pointed exclusively to the Tbilisi address.

The ruling coincided with statements from Russian officials accusing Ukraine of becoming “Europe’s largest hub of weapons and ammunition trafficking.” Russian FSB chief Aleksandr Bortnikov, speaking at a meeting of CIS security agencies, asserted that Western influence had transformed Ukraine into a “testing ground” for new military technologies and artificial intelligence systems. Bortnikov further claimed Ukrainian crime groups are involved in synthetic drug production and that Russia and Belarus blocked an attempt earlier this year to smuggle more than 500 explosive devices into Russia.

These remarks echo earlier assertions by Russia’s UN envoy, Vassily Nebenzia, who told the Security Council in April that weapons supplied to Ukraine had been found across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Nebenzia also stated “one in three assault rifles” used by extremist groups originated from Ukraine.