How many firearms are in circulation in Ukraine: the official figure has already exceeded 1.16 million
This was stated by the Head of the National Police, Ivan Vyhovskyi, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
National Police Chief Ivan Vyhovsky reported that as of 1 April 2026, 812,000 owners of firearms and special equipment were registered in Ukraine.
According to him, citizens possess 1,166,001 firearms and special devices.
Separately, Vyhovskyi stated that crimes involving weapons distributed to citizens at the start of the full-scale war for self-defence are not currently being recorded. According to him, people are keeping these weapons specifically for self-defence.
What the police say about gun control
Vyhovsky also explained that law enforcement agencies are carrying out a wide range of measures to prevent the uncontrolled leakage of firearms.
Among these, he cited operational purchases to block distribution channels, the operation of checkpoints in cooperation with personnel from the Special Forces and the National Guard, as well as the systematic seizure of weapons, ammunition and explosives from illegal circulation.
Thus, the National Police emphasise that the situation regarding officially registered weapons is under control, and law enforcement agencies are focusing primarily on combating illicit trafficking.
How the official figure has changed over the years
The new data differs significantly from pre-war official statistics.
As of 31 July 2018, according to the National Police’s Department of Preventive Activities, Ukrainian citizens owned 892,854 firearms.
This figure referred to registered rifled and smoothbore hunting weapons. These statistics did not account for other categories, which were discussed separately by experts and specialist organisations.
In 2018, the police also noted that since 2013, the number of hunting rifles and shotguns in the hands of Ukrainians had fluctuated between approximately 800,000 and 900,000. At the end of 2016, over 920,000 firearms were registered with the police.
The head of the “Ukrainian Association of Gun Owners”, Georgiy Uchaykin, suggested at the time that the decrease in certain official figures might be explained not by an actual reduction in the number of weapons, but by citizens’ reluctance to undergo the mandatory re-registration that owners are required to carry out every three years.
What is known about the actual number of firearms
As far back as 2018, experts emphasised that the actual number of firearms in the hands of Ukrainians could be significantly higher than the figure officially recorded by the National Police.
According to estimates by the “Ukrainian Association of Gun Owners”, at least 1.5 million Ukrainians could have possessed around 2.5 million registered firearms, i.e. those that had undergone the registration procedure with the Ministry of Internal Affairs at least once.
Short-barrelled weapons were cited as a separate issue. According to Uchaykin, the situation regarding the registration of short-barrelled rifled firearms among civilians in Ukraine was “catastrophic”.
He also claimed that over the years of independence, approximately 50,000 short-barrelled weapons had been issued as awards, yet the Ministry of Internal Affairs had not disclosed detailed information on exactly who received them or for what merits.
Short-barrelled smooth-bore non-lethal weapons were also mentioned separately. According to the association, there could be at least 300,000 such non-lethal pistols in the hands of citizens.
What international assessments showed
The overall picture looked even more alarming in international assessments.
According to the American analytical company Small Arms Survey, in 2017 there were a total of around 4.4 million legal and illegal firearms in the hands of the Ukrainian population.
It is precisely this gap between official records and the likely actual number of weapons that has remained one of the main topics of discussion regarding security, self-defence and the rules governing civilian gun ownership for many years.
Why the issue has resurfaced
A new wave of debate began following the events of 18 April, when a man opened fire on passers-by in the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv and then entered a supermarket, where he took people hostage.
Following this, the issue of citizens’ right to possess firearms for self-defence has once again come to the fore in society.
In particular, military expert Ivan Tymochko stated that he supports the idea of permitting short-barrelled firearms. According to him, this will not change people’s basic readiness to defend themselves, but it may have an important psychological effect, causing a potential attacker to think twice before acting.
At the same time, he emphasised that alongside the right to bear arms, the rules for their use must be clearly defined.
Thus, the National Police’s new figure of 1,166,001 officially registered firearms shows only the tip of the iceberg. Beyond this lies the old stock of unregistered, service, non-lethal and illegal weapons, which will continue to be at the heart of one of the country’s most heated debates.
As reported by ThePublic, the terrorist attack in the Holosiivskyi district highlighted what experts have been saying for years: the lack of proper combat training for patrol officers and a crisis of leadership within the force. ThePublic has analysed how the patrol police force has developed and why the reform, which began with a high level of public trust, has found itself at the centre of the biggest scandal in its entire history.
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