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Despite the sanctions, Russia continues to receive Western-made weapons and ammunition, using sophisticated schemes to circumvent restrictions. This was reported by The Insider in an investigation published on 11 December. The journalists found that Moscow annually imports thousands of firearms and millions of rounds of ammunition through third countries, including Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.
How the scheme works
According to the investigation, arms exports to these countries have increased by 2.5 times over the past three years, from 19,556 units in 2020 to 53,211 in 2023. The largest increase in supplies came from Italy: exports to Armenia increased almost 30-fold, from 68 weapons in 2019 to 1,862 in 2023. Kyrgyzstan, which had not previously imported arms from Italy, received 882 units in 2022, and 4434 in 2023.
Turkey also doubled its deliveries: exports to Georgia increased from 8,426 units in 2019 to 18,843 in 2023.
Key arms suppliers
One of the largest European producers involved in supplying Russia was the Luxembourg-based Beretta holding. Despite the sanctions, the holding remains the main shareholder of the Russian company. Even after the Russian importer of Beretta was included in the US Treasury Department’s sanctions list in 2024, weapons of this brand continue to be supplied to Russia.
The German firm Hans Wrage & Co from Hamburg also maintains ties with Russia. Its head, Frauke Lehmann, owns almost 16% of the Russian company Rusimpeks, which imports Western weapons, including Japanese Miroku carbines, Krieghoff shotguns, Ruag Ammotec and RWS ammunition.
Western weapons in the Russian war
According to the protocols of the sniper competition held in September 2023 at the Angarsk training ground in the annexed Crimea, Russian military and civilian snipers are actively using Western rifles and ammunition.
“Russian snipers are using European and American ammunition, particularly army calibres, instead of their Russian counterparts,” The Insider notes.
Why sanctions don’t work
The arms embargo on Russia has been in place since 2014 after the annexation of Crimea. However, according to the investigators, the countries of the Customs Union (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan), which are linked to Russia by a common customs space and the CSTO military and political bloc, remain a “weak link”. The absence of strict control over arms exports to these countries allows Russia to obtain Western weapons.
Experts and human rights activists emphasise the need to strengthen the monitoring of exports to countries that may act as intermediaries to circumvent sanctions. They also demand the expansion of the sanctions list of companies that directly or indirectly cooperate with Russia.
Western governments are still not doing enough to control the situation, which allows the Russian army to use foreign weapons in the war against Ukraine.
