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Ukraine’s Newest Weapons Shipment Is From 300 B.C.

An embassy event celebrates the seizure of ancient swords from a would-be Russian smuggler.

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Three swords were handed over to the Ukrainian government in Washington.
Three swords were handed over to the Ukrainian government in Washington.
Three swords, thought to date to the fifth or six century B.C. that were seized by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency last year, were handed over to the Ukrainian government during a repatriation ceremony at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington on March 10. U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Russia’s War in Ukraine

On Friday morning, three swords that looked to have spent a good bit of their lives underground were laid carefully on a green cloth draped over a table at the Ukrainian Embassy in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. For more than a year now, Washington has been singularly preoccupied with getting weapons to Ukraine. So when an invitation arrived from the Ukrainian Embassy to a repatriation ceremony for a stone axe and three swords, I was naturally intrigued.

Amy Mackinnon is a national security and intelligence reporter at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @ak_mack

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