MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/. Ukrainian law enforcement officers have recently increased the amount of weapons they are seizing from the population, Ivan Vygovsky, chief of the country’s National Police, said.

"We are now seizing much more weapons than before. [We’re talking] about tons of explosives, millions of rounds of ammunition, and thousands of grenades and guns. As for the weapons that were distributed to the people early in the war, we aren’t seizing them at the moment. The reason is that the war continues and people feel safer when they have weapons. There is a bill to register the weapons and take an inventory of them, making people register them with government agencies. After that, the weapons will be test-fired and returned to their owners. Once the war is over, the weapons will have to be turned in. Those who fail to do so will face criminal prosecution," Vygovsky said in an interview with RBC Ukraine.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klimenko said on December 29, 2023, that he was unaware even of the approximate number of unregistered weapons that were in the hands of the country’s citizens. According to the minister, after martial law is lifted in the country, "the population will have to turn in these weapons and those who have the right to bear arms will need to legalize them." The registration process may take several years. A bill on weapons held by the civilian population is in the works, Klimenko added.

The Ukrainian authorities started to distribute weapons to all comers in February 2022. President Vladimir Zelensky signed a law on March 4, 2022, allowing Ukrainian and foreign civilians to use firearms as part of "national resistance." On March 15, 2022, the Interior Ministry announced that "dozens of thousands of machine guns" had been distributed to the population. Meanwhile, Ukrainian media outlets reported that gangs of armed robbers were active across the country. Authorities in some regions urged people to turn in weapons in early 2023 but the process was not completed within the allotted timeframe. However, Klimenko said in late March 2023 that weapons would not be seized from the population until military operations had ceased.