Hunting rifle scopes manufactured by Western companies are ending up in the hands of Russian fighters in Ukraine, independent Russian media outlet Important Stories reported on Dec. 26.
Russian arms companies are purchasing the sights from Western companies including U.S.-based Leupold, U.S.-Japanese firm Nightforce, U.S.-Chinese company Holosun, and Austria's Swarovski Optik, according to the investigation.
Although they are only intended for hunting and sporting purposes, Important Stories found dozens of YouTube videos showing Russian fighters using the scopes on the frontline.
The investigation found that Russia imported sights amounting to 16 billion rubles ($174 million) in 2022 and 2023.
One of the main online sellers, Pointer from St. Petersburg, purchased 50,000 sights from Holosun for 3 billion rubles ($32.5 million). Another online store, Navigator, imported sights worth approximately 400 million rubles ($4.3 million), including over 2,000 products from Holosun.
The products are then purchased by arms companies, including Tehnologiya, which was associated with former Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin. The company brought optics, rangefinders, glasses, and other equipment for 140 million rubles ($1.5 million) from Navigator.
According to Important Stories, the Western manufacturers likely don’t know where their products end up. Pointer uses intermediaries in China, while Navigator has middlemen in Turkey and Kazakhstan.
Most Popular
'Happy Ukrainian Armed Forces Day' — hackers deface website of Russian company delivering military goods, HUR source claims
Ukrainian drones score 'successful hit' on Russia's Ryazan Oil Refinery, General Staff says
Russian MiG-29 fighter jet destroyed in HUR drone attack on Crimea
FIFA ordered European football clubs to ignore Russia sanctions, investigation finds
Ukraine is cautiously optimistic as Trump's son-in-law enters peace talks — here's why
U.S. President Donald Trump said Dec. 7 he was "disappointed" that President Volodymyr Zelensky allegedly had not yet reviewed a U.S. peace proposal to end the war in Ukraine.
Donald Trump Jr. warned on Dec. 7 that his father may walk away from Ukraine, parroting Kremlin propaganda about corruption in Kyiv driving Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
Russia attacked the Pechenihy dam on Dec. 7, threatening the reservoir that supplies water to Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city.
The AP spoke to 34 refugees who reported kidnappings, sexual assault, and civilian killings at the hands of the Africa Corps, a paramilitary group controlled by the Russian Defense Ministry.
China says recent joint anti-missile drills with Russia on Russian territory were routine and not aimed at any third party.
Czech President Petr Pavel warned that repeated Russian airspace violations may eventually force Europe to shoot down Russian aircraft and drones, and said European countries must be ready to fight and win a war on their own if the U.S. is tied up elsewhere.
Amid an ongoing Russian offensive, Ukraine has liberated a village in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, the Ukrainian open-source mapping project DeepState and Ukraine's military reported.
Russia launched five ballistic missiles and 241 drones at Ukraine overnight, the Air Force reported.
In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur reports on another failed round of U.S.-Russia diplomacy over a controversial peace plan, as Moscow presses ahead on the battlefield and advances in and near Pokrovsk.
Trump envoy Keith Kellogg says a Ukraine peace deal is in its “final stretch” as talks focus on territorial concessions and security guarantees.
Locals reported explosions near the Engels airfield and an oil depot amid overnight drone attacks in Russia’s Saratov and Rostov oblasts.
Russian forces launched a large-scale attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk overnight on Dec. 6, officials reported.
The number includes 1,080 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
Editors' Picks
Ukraine is cautiously optimistic as Trump's son-in-law enters peace talks — here's why
'The key to ending the war is in Brussels' — Ukrainians react to Belgium's Russian asset loan opposition
Youth exodus — Ukraine's young people are increasingly quitting their jobs to go abroad
