New Situation Update on civilian firearm possession in Ukraine

The Ukrainian population’s perception towards firearms is evolving. While civilian possession remains limited, the ongoing war since the Russian invasion increases the risk of illicit proliferation, potential misuse, and broader safety concerns. As of July 2024, 5% of surveyed households report possessing firearms—down from pre-invasion levels and the lowest since monitoring began. Of these firearm-owning households, 63% reported having (some of) their weapons recorded in the Unified Register of Weapons (URW), up from 46% in December 2023. Meanwhile, about one-third of interviewed Ukrainians reported receiving training on firearm safety, with 24% having undergone formal training from armed services or other sources.

Balancing Control and Awareness: Firearms and Safety in Ukraine—the third of the Survey’s Situation Updates series on firearms possession and proliferation in Ukraine—builds on a series of general population surveys carried out between 2019 and July 2024. This Situation Update focuses on the impact of war participation on ownership rates, gaps in formal firearm safety training, and the growing public awareness of firearm registration through the use of the Unified Register of Weapons launched in June 2023.

Read: Balancing Control and Awareness: Firearms and Safety in Ukraine

For more, check out:

• Locked but Loaded: Firearms Possession Dynamics in Ukraine (September 2024)—the first Situation Update in the series, which focuses on the evolving dynamics of firearms possession in Ukraine
• From Conflict to Consequence: Nearly Half of Ukrainian Men Would Like to Own a Firearm, Or Already Have One (December 2023)—the first Situation Update in the series, which gauges the perceptions of the Ukrainian population regarding firearms
• Russia's War: Weighing the Human Cost in Ukraine (May 2023)—a blog post on the gendered effects of the invasion on civilians, whether it has influenced the availability of firearms, and its impact on pre-existing security concerns, such as violent crime
• The Supporting Ukraine In Addressing The Risks Of Small Arms And Light Weapons Proliferation From The Russian War Of Aggression page
• Ukraine outputs in our Resource Library

Other news from the Survey:

• New HSBA Situation Update on the UPDF in Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan
• New SANA Situation Update on Tunisia’s immigration crisis and Briefing Paper on Türkiye’s strategy in Libya
• New Situation Update on trends in firearms trafficking in the Caribbean and Latin America
• New Briefing Paper on improving point of injury trauma care for IED victims
• Nouvelle note d’information SANA sur les armes à feu artisanales en Guinée
• New SANA Briefing Paper on the global struggle to halve violent deaths by 2030
• New Situation Update on the dynamics of firearms possession in Ukraine