Shooting Ukraine in the back: Sniper rifles and ammunition from the EU and U.S. are being supplied to Russia despite sanctions

This is a joint investigation with Investigace.cz (Czechia), IrpiMedia (Italy), and Vlast.kz (Kazakhstan).

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American rifles in the Russian army

In September 2024, a long-range sniper competition took place at the Angarsky training grounds in Russian-annexed Crimea. Special forces from the Russian Ministry of Defense, along with law enforcement personnel and civilian shooters, aimed at targets 1,600 and 3,200 meters away. The competition protocols laid bare the reality that Russian sharpshooters still have access to Western weapons and ammunition — more than a decade after the arms embargo against Russia began.

The most popular rifles among Russian marksmen at the 1,600-meter distance were the U.S.-made Desert Tech SRS (7 participants out of 36), UK-made Accuracy International AXSR (7 out of 36), and the Austrian Steyr Mannlicher SSG (7 out of 36).

Only seven shooters used Russian-made rifles, and just four preferred Russian-made ammunition. At 3,200 meters, the most popular rifles were again the Desert Tech SRS (8 participants out of 28), Russian-made ORSIS (6 out of 28), and Accuracy International AXSR (6 out of 28). Of 28 participants competing at the longer range, 24 chose American-made Hornady and Berger rounds over their Russian alternatives.

Pro-war blogger Alexander Arutyunov — known as “Razvedos” — was among the tournament’s participants. According to posts on his Telegram channel, the former reconnaissance officer has a clear penchant for American weaponry. In September 2023, he tested the American Barrett M107A1 sniper rifle at a shooting range, calling it the “best anti-materiel rifle in the world.”

The Insider managed to identify one individual supplying Arutyunov with advanced American arms: Sergey Alexandrovich Kirichenko, a Moscow resident born in 1982. His Telegram posts include four photos taken at the same Crimean competitions, including one with Arutyunov.

Kirichenko has been professionally involved in sniper shooting since at least 2018, spending millions of rubles on his passion. According to his profile at the Center for Sports Sniping, he has cycled through four sniper rifles over six years: first the Finnish Tikka T3, then the Russian ORSIS, then the Austrian Mannlicher, and now the American Proof Research rifle, designed and produced in Montana.

Over the past year, Kirichenko has posted more than a dozen ads in military and gun-related Telegram channels selling American Proof Research rifles, advertising both available stock and upcoming deliveries.

The profits in this trade rival those of Colombian drug lords. While a Proof Research MDT rifle chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor costs between $2,900 and $3,200 in the United States, Kirichenko sells the same model in Moscow for $17,000.

A sanctions loophole the size of the Customs Union

The European Union imposed an arms embargo on Russia in 2014 after Moscow occupied and annexed Crimea. However, the restrictions contained two massive loopholes. First, EU Council Regulation No. 833/2014 from July 31, 2014, which banned arms exports to Russia, allowed for new deliveries under contracts signed before August 1, 2014. Second, the document included no control measures for exports to countries that are members of Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) — Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan — which share a unified customs space and military-political bloc (CSTO) with Russia.

Permits for importing the aforementioned American Proof Research rifles into Russia had been issued not only to Russia, but also to Kyrgyzstan. Import documentation — certificates or declarations of conformity — issued in one EAEU country are valid across all its member states, making it incredibly simple to move products to Russia via a third country enjoying the proper privileges.

The Kyrgyzstan-based arms distributor Edelweiss («Эдельвейс») obtained three such certificates for Proof Research rifles — including a caliber rare for the CIS. A certificate for a Proof Research rifle barrel chambered in 6 Dasher was issued on September 11, 2023. On January 30, 2024, a post appeared in a sniper ammunition sales group advertising a Proof Research Competition MDT 6 Dasher with the note “in transit.” No company in Russia has certified a rifle of this caliber, so it is likely that the rifle certified in Kyrgyzstan ended up for sale in Moscow.

According to the company’s tax reports, Edelweiss's business has boomed since the full-scale war began: its tax payments jumped from 20.03 million som (over $230,000) in 2020 to 37.91 million som (more than $435,000) in 2023. Overall, Kyrgyz arms importers paid 385% more in taxes in 2023 than they did in 2021, and Kazakh importers' tax payments increased by 99%.

The increase in arms supplies to Russia's neighbors from the European Union, Turkey, and the United States is staggering. According to UN Comtrade data analyzed by The Insider, these countries receive tens of thousands of weapons annually. The statistical anomalies are impossible to overlook: exports to Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan have increased two and a half times over three years, rising from 19,556 units in 2020 to 53,211 in 2023. For instance, Italy’s exports of rifles and shotguns to Armenia soared from 68 units in 2019 to 1,862 in 2023.

Kyrgyzstan, which purchased no weapons from Italy in 2020 and 2021, brought in 882 units in 2022 and 4,434 in 2023. Georgia imported 431 units from the U.S. in 2021, boosting that figure to 4,140 by 2022. Meanwhile, Turkey’s exports to Georgia — the largest supply route to Russia’s neighbors — rose from 8,426 units in 2019 to 18,843 in 2023.

Here’s how rifle imports have grown in Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan:

Why Russian snipers need imported rifles

Why doesn’t Russia’s Ministry of Defense stick to domestically-produced weapons? Russian rifles lag behind Western models in range, and privately made Russian guns now cost as much as those manufactured in the U.S. or European. On top of that, the Russian army simply doesn’t have enough rifles.

The most widespread sniper rifle in service with the Russian Ministry of Defense — the SVD — was developed from 1957-1963. Its effective range is 600-700 meters, which is several times shorter than modern rifles chambered for .338 Lapua Magnum and .375 Chey Tac calibers. Meanwhile, the Chukavin sniper rifle (SVCh) and the ASVK large-caliber army sniper rifle, both developed in the 21st century, are best described by those who have actually used them.

Here’s how the press service of Russia’s Combat Sniping Federation describes shooting with the SVCh:

“Reality hits you immediately — with the very first shot, you get such a powerful blast of powder gases in your face that you have to wipe it off, and that’s no exaggeration. After a series of shots, your face is covered with a thick layer of soot... The shooting results with the 7.62x54R sniper cartridge are relatively stable up to 700 meters, beyond that they’re just random.

At 750 meters, shooting at an 80-cm target in the same spot under the same wind conditions showed no consistency at all — and I’m talking about shooters far more experienced than myself, with the same results... In modern realities, at these distances, this isn’t a sniper rifle; it’s a weapon for a marksman — meaning a long-range shooter within an infantry squad. If that’s how it’s positioned, then no problem. But when you read how it’s touted as some mega-sniper weapon with a 1,200-meter range…give me a break.

Nevertheless, the ASVK Kord, developed in 2004, outdoes all its European and American counterparts in one category of note — in weight. Former Russian special forces operative Alexander Arutyunov details his experience with the rifle:

“Snipers use it as a secret weapon against their own comrades. If your superiors don’t seem to understand that you don’t like lending your tool to ‘sponsors’ — or if specialists from other military branches won’t stop pestering you with requests like ‘let me have a shot.’ Well, the ‘Kord’ will settle everything, and — highly likely — they won’t bother you again.

The trigger, as they say, is ‘dry.’ Short travel, rising pressure, and CLICK — or more precisely, BANG — and... it’s like you’ve been knocked back a little, your left hand, the one holding the magazine, goes numb, and the volume of powder gases makes you think you’re firing from a BMP-2. If you ask me, it feels like an anti-tank rifle with modern optics slapped on and a properly assembled cartridge.”

“At 12.5 kg, its shot grouping at 1,000 meters allows you to hit a barn door at best,” Arutyunov concludes.

This is why Russian snipers operating beyond one kilometer turn to imported rifles or those produced by private Russian manufacturers. The latter category includes ORSIS by Promtechnologiya, Lobaev Arms by the Lobaev Foundation, and Bespoke by the Moscow Arms Company. Due to increased demand during the war, these firms’ products on the Russian market are now priced similarly to their European competitors. For instance, the Bespoke Raptor rifle chambered for .338 Lapua Magnum is listed on the “Arsenal” weapons store website for 1.8 million rubles ($17,200), making it more expensive than many models from Austria's Steyr Mannlicher or Finland's Tikka.

Despite this, not even the combined efforts of sanctions-evading importers, state-owned factories, and private gunsmiths are enough to fully meet the Russian army’s thirst for firearms. Both pro-war bloggers and independent outlets have repeatedly reported cases of Russian soldiers using Mosin-Nagant rifles — which were developed in the Russian Empire back in 1891.

Sanctions? Never heard of them

The largest European producer directly tied to Russian clients is the Luxembourg-based Beretta Holding, which acts as a holding company for the Italian industrial group. As The Insider previously revealed, the company has not ended its operations in Russia. In 2024, companies associated with Russian arms baron Mikhail Khubutia received more than 1,000 weapons and over a million rounds of ammunition from European firms under Beretta’s umbrella. This included rifles from Benelli, Beretta, Beretta Benelli Iberica, Sako, Stoeger, and Tikka, as well as ammunition from Norma, RWS, and Sako. On the Russian side, the largest Khubutia-controlled firm involved in the transactions was Russian Eagle («Русский Орел») — a joint venture between Beretta and the Russian businessman.

In June 2024, the U.S. State Department placed Russian Eagle on the SDN list. However, nearly a year after The Insider’s investigation into the company was published, the EU has yet to respond. Beretta Holding remains the majority owner of the Russian arms importer — in clear violation of both U.S. sanctions and the 2014 EU Council ruling.

European arms manufacturers and officials have often not only turned a blind eye to Russia's aggression in Crimea and Donbas, but have actively invested in marketing to expand their own distribution in the Russian market. Two years after the annexation of Crimea and the explosions at ammunition depots in Vrbětice, Czechia — blasts orchestrated by Russian GRU operatives — Czech Consul General Karel Kühnl personally opened a presentation in St. Petersburg for Czech-made hunting and sport shooting goods. These included Meopta Optika scopes, Sellier & Bellot ammunition, and Česká Zbrojovka rifles and pistols.

The distributor for these brands was the St. Petersburg-based Alliance («Альянс»), which between 2022 and 2024 received 251 Česká Zbrojovka rifles. According to an investigation by the Czech outlet Investigace.cz, Alliance’s founders Filip Gulčak and Mikhail Udalov also own the Czech company Lynxnight s.r.o. The firm’s third co-owner and managing director is Dana Procházková, whose husband Václav Procházky has represented ammunition maker Sellier & Bellot on the Russian market since the early 2000s.

Despite Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Alliance continues to receive Czech binoculars, scopes, and ammunition. Optics are routed through Turkey, while Czech-made ammunition is shipped via Kazakhstan.

A middleman from Colorado

Another supplier of sniper rifles and hunting shotguns to Russia’s neighbors is a small American gun store, ABF, based in the town of Englewood, Colorado. Customs data shows that from 2022-2023, the company shipped 53 rifles to Kazakhstan. The guns came from Accuracy International, Cadex Defence, FN Herstal, Patriot Ordnance Factory, and Proof Research.

While details about the sales in Kazakhstan remain unavailable, rifles from at least two of the brands cited above have appeared at a Russian company that previously worked with ABF. One of the company’s managers and co-owners is a man named Alex Bourlakov. Bourlakov was recommended as a delivery middleman on the Guns.ru forum in 2009. He was described as a “dealer of Berger bullets with an export license, shipping bullets to Russia.”

ABF has also collaborated with the Russian company Varyag, a mid-sized Moscow arms importer with a turnover in 2023 of 175.5 million rubles ($1.67 million). Despite the full-scale war, Varyag continued to acquire American and European firearms. Between 2022 and 2024, the company obtained compliance certificates to import 193 rifles from Accuracy International, Barrett, Cadex, and Desert Tech, as well as 213 Glock pistols. All of these brands are still available for purchase on its website. In October 2024, Varyag showcased two booths featuring American and European rifle models at the Orel Expo exhibition in Moscow’s Gostiny Dvor. The company’s director, Vladimir Grebenyuk, also heads the Ramenki Shooting Club, which organized the aforementioned sniper tournament in occupied Crimea.

The rifles entered Russia through a Kazakh trade partner — the company “Kazokhotrybolovsoyuz” (KORS, lit. “Kazakhstan Hunting and Fishing Union”), whose business has seen steady growth since the start of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to the company’s reports, taxes paid increased from 97.9 million tenge (over $187,000) in 2021 to 143.6 million tenge (over $274,000) in 2022 and 193.2 million (over $369,000) in 2023. None of the aforementioned brands are available for purchase in KORS's online store.

Partnerships with Germany — through Kazakhstan

Sept. 23, 2013 marked the Day of the Gunsmith in the city of Izhevsk, with top Russian defense officials — including President Putin, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu — attending the event. Foreign firms doing business with the city’s defense manufacturers were also invited. Among them was Frauke Lehmann, president of the German company Hans Wrage & Co.

At the time, Lehmann detailed her firm’s two decades of cooperation with local defense giants Izhevsk Mechanical Plant and Izhmash:

“Our firm buys Russian weapons and sells them to practically all the countries in the world. We represent the products of Izhmash and the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant at many international exhibitions. This year we were in Brazil, China, and Abu Dhabi. We have been working with Izhevsk arms manufacturers for over twenty years.”

Izhevsk Mechanical Plant and Izhmash were later merged to create the Kalashnikov Concern, Russia’s largest firearms manufacturer and the producer of the iconic assault rifle.

Hans Wrage also maintained close ties with the Barnaul Cartridge Plant (“Barnaulsky Patronny Zavod” or BPZ) in Russia’s Altai Krai, just north of the border with Kazakhstan. In 2011, the company organized the annual meeting of BPZ dealers and distributors in Hamburg. A piece in Kalashnikov magazine’s August 2011 edition detailed her firm’s links with Russia:

“Hans Wrage is BPZ’s largest foreign partner, actively participating in many international exhibitions, and at key events like IWA and SHOT Show, we share a joint booth with the plant.”

In Germany, Lehmann owns a stake in Hans Wrage, which resells Izhevsk-made hunting rifles and Barnaul-made ammunition worldwide. She also has holdings in Russia. Since 2011, she has owned 15.96% of Rusimpex («Русимпэкс») — a firm that imports Japanese Miroku rifles as well as the German-made Anschutz rifles, Krieghoff shotguns, and RUAG Ammotec and RWS ammunition. Documents for the last batch of 195,000 RWS cartridges were filed on Jan. 25, 2022 — a month before Russia unleashed its full-scale war against Ukraine.

After the invasion began, Rusimpex’s turnover declined, but the company remained operational, reporting revenue of 74 million rubles in 2022 and 33 million rubles in 2023. Aside from hunting and sporting firearms, Rusimpex was also involved in the supply of military-caliber ammunition. Between 2011 and 2013, the company signed six government procurement contracts worth 12.6 million rubles with Military Unit No. 55056, which is part of Russia’s Federal Security Service, more commonly known as the FSB.

One of Lehmann’s key partners in Russia is Mikhail Khubutia — the arms baron linked to Beretta. Lehmann is connected to him through two companies. Her business partner in Rusimpex, holding a 78.72% stake, is Rafik Yetumyan, who is closely associated with Khubutia through several other arms distributors.

Until April 24, 2020, Frauke Lehmann also held a 9% stake in “Russian Eagle” («Русский Орел») — the joint venture between Khubutia and Beretta Holding. Notably, until April 12, 2018, 5% of Russian Eagle was owned by Eduard Ioffe, a top manager of the Kalashnikov Concern. Both Lehmann and Beretta Holding violated U.S. State Department sanctions, as Ioffe had been on the SDN list three years prior.

Customs data analyzed by The Insider reveals that Hans Wrage continues to work with Russian clients — although it has ceased direct deliveries of weapons and ammunition. In July 2023, the St. Petersburg-based company Technord received 14.175 tons of air rifle pellets worth over $100,000 from the German distributor, produced by Czech firm JSB Match Diabolo.

In December 2022, Hans Wrage supplied Rusimpex with gun cases and hunting apparel worth $69,000. In October 2022, hunting clothing and footwear worth $11,000 were delivered to Kolchuga — a company owned by Khubutia’s partner Rafik Yetumyan.

How is all this possible? Once again, Kazakhstan had a role to play in routing the weapons across the Russian border. Although direct arms shipments to Russia ground to a halt following the start of the full-scale invasion, exports to its neighbor, Kazakhstan, have surged. Between 2022 and 2023, Hans Wrage delivered at least 309 Italian Benelli shotguns to two Kazakh firms — its long-term partner Korgan Center («Корган Центр») and the distributor Olympic Shymkent («Олимпик Шымкент»).

The taxes paid by these firms have grown by 112% and 172%, respectively, since the start of the invasion of Ukraine. As The Insider previously discovered, at least some of the weapons imported by this Kazakh company ended up on the shelves of the Russian store “Orel” (lit. “Eagle”), which is owned by Khubutia. Customs data also indicates that an Italian Beretta DT11 Anniversario shotgun and a German Sauer 404 Stutzen rifle were shipped to Kazakhstan in July 2023 — and by February 2024, these same models had appeared in a Moscow store.

Between 2022 and 2024, Hans Wrage sold at least 176 Blaser-brand rifles to Kazakhstan's Korgan Center. A reporter from Correctiv, investigating the smuggling of German arms into Russia, visited the showroom in 2023 posing as a buyer. Three Blaser rifle stands were nearly empty, and when asked about purchasing a rifle and transporting it to Russia, the seller replied: “It’s not easy, but it can be done.”

The rifles, manufactured in Germany’s Baden-Württemberg, also turned up at another Hans Wrage partner — the Barnaul Cartridge Plant. After the start of the full-scale invasion, the plant began developing a new caliber of ammunition for long-range sniper rifles that use the .338 Lapua Magnum. It then used Blaser’s long-range R8 rifle to test them.

The Insider reached out for comment to Alliance, Meopta, Česká Zbrojovka, Sellier & Bellot, Desert Tech, KORS, ABF Inc., and Hans Wrage. As of Dec. 11, 2024, none had responded to the request.

This investigation was carried out with the support of Journalismfund Europe.