Russian companies continue to gain access to the purchase of firearms and ammunition from Europe and the United States, despite sanctions against Russia.
This was reported by The Kyiv Independent citing an investigation by the German project Correctiv. According to journalists’ estimates, since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression, nearly 7,300 firearms have been imported into Russia, including over a hundred sniper rifles and almost eight million rounds of ammunition. Among the Western manufacturers are U.S. companies such as Smith & Wesson, Barrett Firearms, and Desert Tech, Austrian brands like Glock and Steyr Arms, as well as German companies like Merkel Jagd- und Sport Waffen GmbH, Nammo Schönebeck, RWS, Ruag Ammotech, Blaser, and others.
Weapons enter the country via intermediaries
Reports indicate that a portion of these Western weapons has fallen into the hands of the Russian military operating in Ukraine. The investigation found that firearms such as Glock pistols, automatic AR-15 rifles, and Blaser R8 carbines were identified in use. These weapons were also spotted at the recent arms fair in Moscow. Correctiv has indicated that the weapons probably did not reach Russia directly from Western manufacturers but were distributed via intermediaries in third countries.
Image: kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0, Vladimir Putin, Sergei Lavrov and Sergei Shoigu (2019-02-02) 03.jpg, via Wikimedia Commons (resized)