Shooting Ukraine in the back: Sniper rifles and ammunition from the EU and U.S. are being supplied to Russia despite sanctions
13 December 2024
...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...
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...
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.