U.S. sentences Kyrgyz national who illegally exported American firearms to Russia to 39 months in prison following The Insider investigation

The United States Department of Justice has announced that on Jan. 22 a federal court in Brooklyn sentenced Kyrgyz national Sergei Zharnovnikov to 39 months’ imprisonment for conspiracy to export American-made firearms to Russia in violation of sanctions for use in the war against Ukraine.

“The defendant bought American-made, military-grade firearms and ammunition and reexported them to Russia — the same brand of firearms and ammunition known to be used in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Our sanctions are only as effective as our ability to enforce them. Today’s sentence is a message to would-be violators: breaking this law has serious consequences,” stated United States Attorney Joseph Nocella.

Zharnovnikov was arrested in February 2025. As The Insider found, among other things, Zharnovnikov purchased Kriss carbines in the United States. Their customs clearance in Kyrgyzstan was handled by Azhy Mamat Kompani LLC (OsOO) (ОсОО «Ажы Мамат Компани»), registered in Zharnovnikov’s name, which then sold the carbines to Russian firms, including Moscow-based Aurora LLC (ООО «Аврора»), founded by Nikolai Nefyolov, who is linked to two other weapons importers: Novo-Obninsk-Import LLC (ООО «Ново-Обнинск-Импорт») and Automatic Systems of Kaluga LLC (ООО «Автоматические Системы Калуги»). The Insider covered the three companies' activities in May 2024 in an investigation into the smuggling of Glock pistols. During the war, Aurora imported 545 pistols into Russia, while Novo-Obninsk-Import imported 35. In total, from February 2022 to February 2024, the three Russian companies imported 1,176 weapons and 1.117 million rounds of ammunition.