Russia continues to purchase rifles and ammunition from EU and US despite sanctions – media
www.pravda.com.ua
Thu, 12 Dec 2024 02:11:12 +0200
Russia annually purchases thousands of Western rifles and millions of rounds of ammunition from companies in the European Union and the United States despite years of sanctions.
Source The Insider Quote European weapon manufacturers and officials often not only turned a blind eye to Russias aggression in Crimea and Donbas but also invested marketing budgets to expand distribution in the Russian market.
Details A joint investigation by The Insider, Investigace.cz, IrpiMedia and Vlast.kz revealed that companies from the EU, the US and Trkiye have increased weapon exports to Central Asian countries such as Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan over the past three years.
The weapons are likely being reexported to Russia through these countries, enabling sanctions circumvention.
Quote The export of rifles and shotguns from Italy to Armenia has increased almost 30 times over four years.
Kyrgyzstan did not purchase any weapons from Italy in 2020 and 2021, but it received 882 units in 2022 and 4,434 in 2023.
Weapon exports from Trkiye to Georgia rose from 8,426 units in 2019 to 18,843 in 2023.
Details The investigation also discovered links between the Luxembourgbased Beretta holding company and Russian firms.
Journalists highlighted that the holding remains the majority owner of a Russian arms importer despite sanctions, directly violating both US sanctions and the EU Councils 2014 resolution.
Quote Its operations in Russia have not ceased, neither after the EU embargo was introduced nor following the beginning of the fullscale war.
Berettas joint venture with weapon baron Mikheil Khubutia, the Russian Eagle company and other companies owned by Khubutia, received over a thousand weapons and over a million rounds of ammunition produced by European companies in the holding in 2024.
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