Despite years of sanctions imposed for the war against Ukraine, Russia annually purchases thousands of Western rifles and millions of rounds of ammunition from companies in the European Union and the United States.
A joint investigation by The Insider, Investigace.cz, IrpiMedia, and Vlast.kz shows how, over the past three years, companies from the European Union, the United States, and Turkey have increased arms exports to Central Asian countries such as Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.
These intermediary countries are likely re-exporting weapons to Russia, enabling them to circumvent sanctions. Western manufacturers should have had questions about the increased demand for armaments from these countries, given their flagged involvement in assisting the Kremlin in circumventing sanctions. Obviously, the rifles can be used by the Russian military to kill Ukrainians on the front.
American sniper rifles in the Russian army
In September 2024, long-range sniper shooting competitions were held at the Angarsky training ground in annexed Crimea. Snipers from special units of the Ministry of Defense, law enforcement agencies, and civilian shooters competed in accuracy at distances of 1600 and 3200 meters.
The protocols of the competition demonstrate that ten years after the introduction of an embargo on the export of weapons to the Russian Federation, Russian riflemen continue to receive both Western weapons and Western cartridges.
At a distance of 1,600 meters, the most popular rifles among Russian precision shooters were the American Desert Tech SRS (7 participants out of 36), the British Accuracy International AXSR (7 participants out of 36), and the Austrian Steyr Mannlicher SSG (7 out of 36).
Only seven shooters used Russian-made rifles, and only four preferred Russian cartridges. At a distance of 3200 meters, the most popular were Desert Tech SRS (8 participants out of 28), Russian ORSIS (6 out of 28), and Accuracy International AXSR (6 out of 28). 24 participants out of 28 preferred American Hornady and Berger cartridges to Russian ones.
It was possible to identify one of those who supplied the Russian military with advanced models of American weapons. This is Sergey Aleksandrovich Kyrychenko from Moscow, born in 1982. Among his posts in the Telegram, you can see four photos taken at those same Crimean competitions.
Over the past hour, Kyrychenko has published more than a dozen advertisements for the sale of American Proof Research rifles in prominent Telegram channels, promoting both the availability of these weapons and their imminent delivery. Colombian drug lords can envy the marginality of this business. If the Proof Research MDT in 6.5 Creedmoor caliber costs $2,900–3,200 in the United States, Kyrychenko is asking $17,000 for a similar rifle in Moscow.
A loophole in sanctions the size of the Customs Union
When, after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the EU countries imposed an embargo on the supply of weapons to Russia, two huge loopholes remained in the restrictions. First, the resolution of the EU Council No. 833/2014, dated July 31, 2014, which prohibited the export of weapons to Russia, allowed new deliveries under contracts concluded before August 1, 2014. Secondly, the document did not include any control measures on exports to the Customs Union’s member countries—Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan—who share a common border with Russia through the single customs space and the military-political bloc of CSTO.
Permits for the import of the above-mentioned Proof Research American rifles to Russia were issued not only in Russia but also in Kyrgyzstan. And the documents necessary for import—a certificate or a declaration of conformity—drawn up in one country of the EAEU, are valid in the territory of all countries of the Customs Union. In Russia, for example, on 06.09.2023, Andrey Valentynovych Shinin received such a permit, certificate РОСС RU С-US.НВ70.А.02170/23 (source).
Kyrgyz arms distributor Edelweiss received two such certificates for Proof Research rifles. Judging by tax reports, the business of Edelweiss went uphill with the beginning of a full-scale war: the amount of taxes paid by the company increased from 20.03 million soms in 2020 to 37.91 million in 2023. In general, Kyrgyz arms importers paid 385% more taxes in 2023 than in 2021, and Kazakhstani arms importers paid 99% more taxes.
The growth of supplies to Russia’s neighbors from the European Union, Turkey, and the United States amazes the imagination. According to UN Comtrade data analyzed by The Insider, these countries annually receive tens of thousands of weapons. There is a statistical anomaly: exports to Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan have grown two and a half times in three years: from 19,556 barrels in 2020 to 53,211 in 2023. Thus, the export of rifles and shotguns from Italy to Armenia grew from 68 barrels in 2019 to 1,862 barrels in 2023.
In 2020 and 2021, Kyrgyzstan did not buy weapons from Italy at all, but in 2022 it imported 882 units, and in 2023 – 4,434. — up to 4,140 barrels. The largest supply channel to Russia’s neighbors remains exports from Turkey to Georgia, which grew from 8,426 barrels in 2019 to 18,843 barrels in 2023.
This graphic below shows how the exports of rifles to Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan grew.
Sniper rifle exports
Why do Russian snipers need imported rifles?
Why is the Ministry of Defense not satisfied with domestic weapons? Russian rifles are several times inferior to Western rifles in terms of firing range. Simultaneously, private Russian gunsmiths have already compared their production costs with those of American and European samples. Finally, the Russian army is experiencing a severe shortage of rifles.
SVD is the most popular sniper rifle in service with the Ministry of Defense. It was developed back in 1957–1963. Its effective firing range is 600–700 meters, which is several times less than the indicators of modern rifles of the caliber .338 Lapua Magnum and .375 Chey Tac. The SVCh (Chukavina sniper rifle) and ASVK (army sniper large-caliber rifle), which were created in the 21st century, have left a lasting impression on those who have used them.
Developed in 2004, the ASVK Cord surpasses all European and American analogs in terms of weight. Former special forces officer Alexander Arutyunov describes it as follows: “With a weight of 12.5 kg, the accuracy of shooting at a distance of 1000 meters allows you to hit a barn.”
That is why Russian snipers at distances of more than one kilometer use either imported rifles or weapons from private Russian manufacturers. At the same time, neither contraband imports, state factories, nor private gunsmiths fully cover the needs of the Russian army.
How does Russia manage to evade sanctions?
The largest European manufacturer, directly connected with the Russian recipient of its production, is Luxembourg’s Beretta. He continued his work in Russia even after the introduction of the EU embargo and the onset of a full-scale war. In 2024, Beretta’s joint venture with arms baron Mikhail Khubutia, the company “Russian Orel” and companies belonging to Khubutia received more than a thousand weapons and more than a million cartridges produced by the holding’s European companies: carbines Benelli, Beretta, Beretta Benelli Iberica, Sako, Stoeger, and Tikka; Norma, RWS, and Sako cartridges.
In June 2024, the US State Department included the Russian “daughter” of Beretta in the SDN list. In the European Union, almost an hour after the publication of the investigation, there is still no reaction to it: the Beretta holding remains the majority owner of the Russian arms importer, directly violating both the US sanctions and the EU Council resolution of 2014.
Two years after the annexation of Crimea and two years after the explosions of weapons warehouses in the Czech Vrbetice organized by the GRU, the Consul General of the Czech Republic in St. Petersburg, Karel Künl, personally opened the presentation of Czech products for hunting and sports shooting—Meopta Optika optical sights, Sellier & Bellot cartridges, and rifles and pistols from Česká Zbrojovka.
The distributor of these brands was the St. Petersburg company “Alliance,” which received 251 Česká Zbrojovka carbines in 2022–2024. According to the Czech publication Investigace.cz, the founders of “Alliance,” Filip Gulchak and Mikhail Udalov, also own the Czech company LYNXNIGHT S.R.O. The third co-owner and managing director of this company is Dana Prokhazkova.
US and German manufactures
Another supplier of sniper rifles and hunting rifles to Russia’s neighbors is the small American gun shop ABF from Colorado (ABF Inc., United States, Englewood, Co 80110). According to customs data, in 2022-2023, this company delivered to Kazakhstan 53 rifles from Accuracy International, Cadex Defense, FN Herstal, Patriot Ordnance Factory, and Proof Research.
Information on the sale of these rifles in Kazakhstan is unavailable, but a Russian company that previously collaborated with ABF carries at least two brands of these weapons. ABF also cooperated with the Russian company Varyag, a medium-sized Moscow arms importer whose turnover in 2023 amounted to 175.5 million rubles. Even after the start of the full-scale war, “Varyag” continued to receive American and European weapons.
In 2022–2024, the company issued certificates of conformity for the import of 193 Accuracy International, Barrett, Cadex, and Desert Tech rifles and 213 Glock pistols. In October 2024, Varyag demonstrated two stands with samples of American and European rifles at the Orel Expo exhibition in Moscow’s Gostin Dvor. The director of Varyag, Vladimir Grebenyuk, also heads the Ramen Shooting Club, which organized the above-mentioned sniper tournament in Crimea.
The rifles came to Russia through a trade partner in Kazakhstan—the company “Kazohotrybolovsoyuz” (KORS), whose business has shown steady growth since the beginning of the war. According to the company’s reporting, the amount of taxes paid increased from 97.9 million tenge in 2021 to 143.6 million in 2022 and 193.2 million in 2023.
On September 23, 2013, the top leaders of the defense sector gathered in Izhevsk for the Day of the Armourer: President Putin, Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin, and Defense Minister Shoigu. Foreign partners of Izhevsk enterprises were invited to the celebration, including the president of the German company Hans Wrage & Co., Frauke Lehmann.
Mrs. Lehmann spoke about twenty years of cooperation with the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant and Izhmash. Hans Wrage also worked closely with the Barnaul Ammunition Plant. According to Lehmann, “Hans Wrage is the largest foreign partner of BPZ; it takes an active part in many international exhibitions, and at key ones, such as the IWA and SHOT Show, it exhibits together with the plant on a single stand.”
Since the beginning of the war, the company’s turnover has decreased, but it continues to work: revenue in 2022 amounted to 74 million rubles, and in 2023, 33 million. In addition to hunting and sports weapons, “Rusimpex” also supplied cartridges of army calibers. In 2011–2013, the company concluded six state contracts worth 12.6 million rubles with military unit No. 55056, part of the FSB.
And until April 24, 2020, Frauke Lehmann owned 9% of the Russian Orel company, a joint venture between Khbutia and the Beretta holding. At the same time, until April 12, 2018, 5% of the capital of “Russian Eagle” belonged to the top manager of the “Kalashnikov” concern, Eduard Ioffe. In other words, both Lehmann and the Beretta holding violated the sanctions imposed by the US State Department, which had included Ioffe in the SDN list three years prior.
During 2022-2024, Hans Wrage sold at least 176 Blaser carbines to Kazakhstan’s Korgan Center. In 2023, a correspondent of Correctiv, investigating the smuggling of German weapons to Russia, visited this salon under the guise of a buyer. Three branded stands of Blaser rifles were half-empty, and the salesman in the salon answered, “It’s not easy, but possible,” when asked about the possibility of buying a rifle and organizing transportation to Russia.
At the time of the article’s publication, the companies “Alliance,” “Meopta,” “Ceska Zbroevka,” “Sellier Bellot,” “Desert Tech,” “KORS,” “ABF Inc.”, and “Hans Wrage” did not respond to the investigators’ requests.
Russia has learned to effectively circumvent arms sanctions. And in this, the Russian Federation is helped by Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. However, collectively, they have mastered the art of deceiving arms companies, even those in the US and Germany.