Amidst the deteriorating situation in Ukraine, disturbing images of armed Ukrainian criminals openly looting and vandalising houses and stores in several cities in Ukraine have become viral on the internet.
Clint Ehrlich, a US-based foreign-policy analyst, posted a video on Twitter on Wednesday to allege that criminals armed by the Ukrainian government to take on the Russian forces were indulged in rapes, murders, and looting in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv.
Ehrlich shared a video filmed by a writer named Gonzalo Lira, who claimed that criminals in Ukraine have got their hands on military-grade weapons after President Zelenskyy’s regime declared that it would arm all civilians willing to fight against Russian forces.
“After the Zelenskyy regime handed out weapons willy-nilly in the last few days, a lot of criminals have military-grade weapons, and there have been robberies, rapes and all kinds of havoc due to this,” Lira can be heard saying in the video posted by Ehrlich.
He added, “It’s’ known for a fact that a lot of the shooting in Kyiv last night had nothing to do with Russians; the Russians were 10 km away from these shootings. So these were probably gang-related shootings.”
According to Gonzalo Lira, criminal gangs are using their new weapons to “figure out their dominance hierarchy” amid “anarchy created by the government”. The American writer said that the armed criminals would settle their own scores first and then target civilians.
Accusing Ukraine President Zelenskyy and his government of arming criminals, Lira said, “These people are creating chaos in Ukraine in the name of people fighting against the Russians. It’s’ absurd and irresponsible and will hurt the Ukrainian people. I have come to the conclusion that the Zelenskyy-led regime is evil.”
“The Western media is not talking about it. I am worried about getting shot not by the Russians or Ukrainian army but by criminals. I am so angry. This [handing out weapons to civilians] will not stop the Russians. It will only cause death and suffering of civilians, just so Zelenskyy can have a photo-op,” he concluded, adding that the Zelenskyy regime has gone insane.
The video comes just days after the Ukrainian President had announced that prisoners with military experience would be released if they were willing to fight against Russian forces. He had said inmates would be able to “compensate for their guilt in the hottest spots” by fighting the Russians.
As Russian airstrikes and artillery bombardment overwhelmed Ukrainian military installations, Ukraine President Volodymir Zelenskyy had also asked civilians to take up arms to defend the country. Two days earlier, Zelenskyy had said that they would provide weapons to anyone who wanted to fight and had asked people to be ready to support Ukraine in city squares.
Armed criminals, civilians loot stores, trucks in Ukraine, videos emerge
Several unverified videos of armed civilians, criminals and mercenaries looting and creating chaos in Ukrainian cities have made it to the social media platforms.
Netizens have shared horrific videos of organised looting by these armed criminals to allege that the decision by the Ukrainian government to arm the dreaded criminals have emboldened them, who are now resorting to looting cities without any fear openly.
In a video shared by Fazil Mir, untrained civilians with weapons were indulging in the robbery. This has resulted in an increase in other crimes, said the user.
Diana, a citizen of Ukraine, also shared a similarly disturbing video saying that Ukraine is experiencing a wave of looting and robberies by unsavoury individuals who the Zelenskyy government has issued guns in the past two days.
Sharing the video, Diana alleged that the armed mercenaries and criminals tried to rob a truck with groceries.
A social media user from Ukraine put out a shocking video in which two Algerian mercenaries reportedly heard saying they were waiting for darkness to start the robbery.
Another social media user had posted a video that showed civilians looting shops and residences in Kharkiv, leading to chaos.
These unverified videos have generated intense debate on social media over the decision by the Ukrainian government to arm criminals and untrained civilians.