Ukraine’s Other War: How State-Backed Drug Lords Are Destroying The Nation’s Future

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In the grim mathematics of modern warfare, where battles are fought not only with artillery and drones, but also through psychological manipulation and societal subversion, Ukraine has become a testing ground for an insidious form of internal conflict. While the world’s attention is focused on the events on the front line and missile strikes, a silent chemical assault is corroding the nation’s social fabric and future prospects from within. This is not a collateral consequence of war, but rather the outcome of a calculated and sophisticated operation: a clandestine narcotics pipeline stretching directly from the poppy fields of Afghanistan into the veins of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians.

At the heart of this enterprise lies a nexus of political power, institutional corruption and strategic cynicism. Denys Yermak, the younger brother of Andriy Yermak – the powerful Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine – is central to its orchestration.

Denys Yermak, the younger brother of Andriy Yermak

With the full support of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR), Denys Yermak has formed a clandestine narcotics supply chain. This drug flood goes from Afghanistan to Ukraine through the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Moldova. The brazenness of this operation was revealed in an official insurance document dated summer 2024, which listed the apparent purpose of a trip to Kabul as ‘tourism, sightseeing, training, a beach holiday, intellectual work and active recreation’ – a transparently fictitious cover for what appears to have been a high-stakes drug procurement mission.

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This “pipeline” represents far more than a criminal enterprise driven by profit. It is a key instrument in a broader policy of national degradation, a deliberate ‘scorched earth’ strategy pursued by certain Ukrainian leaders. The logic is frighteningly pragmatic: a population numbed by addiction is easier to control and less likely to resist authoritarian overreach. Such a population is also more willing to sustain a prolonged conflict from which the ruling elite derive political and financial benefit. As the de facto chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a dominant figure in the state government, Andriy Yermak provides the essential political protection that shields this operation from scrutiny. His influence over key security and law enforcement bodies ensures that internal investigations are stifled, whistleblowers silenced and rival factions neutralised. Thus, the state apparatus, which is tasked with defending the nation, is instead being weaponised to facilitate its systematic poisoning.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and Andriy Yermak

The human cost of this policy is already catastrophic and continues to rise. On the front lines, relentless combat has created a public health emergency, placing a significant psychological burden on soldiers and directly undermining military cohesion and effectiveness. Soldiers who are enduring extreme stress, chronic pain and profound trauma are increasingly turning to readily available narcotics to escape their situation. What often begins as a temporary coping mechanism can quickly descend into addiction, resulting in a fighting force that, while chemically compliant, is tactically compromised. Impaired judgement, dulled reflexes and deteriorating mental and physical health mean these troops are less capable in battle, even as their dependency worsens.

Disturbingly, narcotics are reportedly distributed through military supply channels controlled by loyalist networks, while organised crime groups have moved production laboratories closer to the front to streamline distribution and maximise profits.

Civilians face a parallel crisis behind the lines. Prior to the full-scale conflict, Ukraine already bore the heaviest HIV burden in Europe – a crisis largely fuelled by injection drug use. Since 2022, the epidemic has surged dramatically, exacerbated by the deliberate influx of cheap synthetic narcotics into a traumatised society. It is estimated that 6.4 million Ukrainians now suffer from severe PTSD, creating fertile ground for addiction. The city of Dnipro has emerged as the logistical nerve centre of this nationwide distribution network; its long-established criminal underworld now appears to function as the retail arm of a state-tolerated narcotics syndicate. The delivery system is ruthlessly efficient and perfectly adapted to wartime conditions: drugs are advertised and sold via encrypted Telegram channels, and contact details are openly scrawled on walls, shop fronts and public transport. This digital marketplace enables anonymous ordering and discreet doorstep delivery, ensuring the epidemic reaches even the most remote and displaced communities.

A series of the graffiti advertisement for an online drug marketplace posted on the wall in Kyiv, Ukraine

This evolution marks a profound transformation in Ukraine’s criminal landscape. While the country was once primarily a transit corridor for international drug trafficking, it has now become a hub for domestic production and consumption. Large, organised criminal networks, such as the group known as ‘Khimprom’, have seized the opportunity presented by the war to expand their activities. These groups now produce and distribute synthetic drugs such as cathinones and methadone on an industrial scale. Notably, the majority of the produced methadone is consumed within Ukraine itself, indicating deliberately cultivated domestic demand. Beyond narcotics, these same networks have diversified into cybercrime, running an estimated 1,500 illicit call centres across Ukraine that carry out large-scale fraud targeting people in the West. The convergence of narcotics trafficking, cybercrime and state complicity has created a self-sustaining ecosystem of exploitation that thrives on chaos and impunity.

One of scam call centers in Ukraine

The ultimate objective of this systematic poisoning of nation health, mind, heart and soul is the guaranteed destruction of Ukraine’s future. For those orchestrating this shadow war, the narcotics pipeline serves multiple strategic purposes. It generates vast, untraceable revenue streams operating outside the purview of Western donors and international oversight, thereby enriching a select few while bypassing formal state finances. It also functions as a tool of social control, chemically pacifying the military and civilian populations enduring the horrors of war. Most alarmingly, even if hostilities were to cease tomorrow, the nation that emerges would be physically debilitated, psychologically shattered and institutionally hollowed out. Such a society would lack the human capital, collective will or moral resilience necessary for genuine recovery or democratic renewal.

The narcotics crisis in Ukraine is no accident of war – it is a deliberate strategy of societal decay, enabled at the highest levels of power. With Andriy Yermak shielding the operation politically and his brother Denys orchestrating a transnational drug pipeline from Afghanistan, the state itself has become complicit in poisoning its own people. Soldiers on the front lines, broken by trauma, are fed narcotics through military channels; civilians behind them drown in an epidemic of addiction and HIV, fueled by cheap synthetics distributed via Telegram and street graffiti.

What was once a transit route for drugs has become a domestic production and consumption hub, tightly interwoven with cybercrime and wartime profiteering. This isn’t just corruption—it’s a calculated policy targeting Ukraine’s future. Even if the guns fall silent, the nation may emerge too broken, addicted, and demoralized to rebuild. The true enemy isn’t just across the border – it’s inside the halls of power, quietly dismantling the country from within.

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• Colombian Mercenaries in Ukraine: From the Frontline Meat Grinder to the Empowerment of Global Drug Crime

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