Russian snipers use Western rifles, ammunition despite sanctions, media investigation says

Russia uses Western sniper rifles and ammunition despite sanctions, obtaining the arms via third-party countries, according to a joint media investigation published by The Insider on Dec. 11.

Loopholes in sanctions imposed on Russia following the occupation of Crimea in 2014 allowed Western-branded sniper rifles to end up in Russian hands, says the investigation co-authored by the Russian independent outlet The Insider, the Czech Investigace.cz, the Italian IrpiMedia, and the Kazakh Vlast.kz.

The report comes as another evidence of Russia successfully dodging sanctions to obtain arms and other goods needed to supply its Armed Forces as it wages an all-out war against Ukraine.

The EU’s sanctions on weapons exports to Russia did not apply to agreements concluded before Aug. 1, 2014, and they did not extend to countries that are part of Russia’s tariff union, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

The EAEU is a customs union akin to the European Union, consisting of Belarus, Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Companies in EAEU countries that are not under sanctions could thus reexport arms to Russia.

One example of evidence of reexporting Western sniper rifles from the EAEU to Russia is Kyrgyz arms distributor Edelweiss, whose business boomed between 2020 and 2023, the investigation says, citing the company's two-fold increase in paid taxes.

Citing U.N. data, the journalists also wrote that shotgun exports from Italy to Armenia increased from 68 barrels in 2019 to 1,862 in 2023. Italian weapon exports to Kyrgyzstan were non-existent in 2020 and 2021 but grew to 882 in 2022 and 4,434 in 2023, the investigation showed, suggesting another example of sanctions evasion.

Western rifles’ superiority over their Russian peers shows on their price tag, too. Russian arms dealers are said to resell the imported guns with a hefty profit three to four times the original price in the U.S.

The Luxembourg holding Beretta is reportedly one of the major beneficiaries of Russia's orders. The arms company runs a joint venture with Russian businessman Mikhail Khubutia, who owns the Russian Eagle company.

Russian Eagle received thousands of weapons and over a million rounds of ammunition produced by the Beretta holding in Europe, The Insider writes.

US considering implementing harsher sanctions on Russian oil ahead of Trump’s inauguration, Bloomberg reports

Although no concrete decisions have been made on the potential sanctions, sources familiar with the discussions told Bloomberg that a number of avenues are being explored, including sanctions on Russia’s so-called ‘shadow fleet.’

The Kyiv IndependentDmytro Basmat