sniper weapons from Italy continue to be supplied to the Russian Federation

The leading Italian arms companies Beretta and CD Europe SRL continue to supply Russia with sniper rifles, pistols and ammunition, despite the sanctions. This is stated in the investigation of The Insider and IrpiMedia.

According to investigators, the export of Italian weapons and ammunition produced by the Beretta holding to Russia takes place through the mediation of companies owned by Russian businessman Mikhail Khubutia.

One of the largest companies in the arms business of Khubutia is LLC “Russian Eagle”, the controlling stake of which is owned by the Beretta holding. According to journalists, it is through this subsidiary that Europeans supply their weapons to Russia. An intermediary company from Turkey participates in the supply scheme.

In total, more than 835 thousand rounds of ammunition and almost six thousand units of small arms reached Russia after the start of the war, the investigators write.

Some of the weapons and ammunition supplied to Russia in this way are purchased by the Russian security forces, the journalists note. Moreover, sniper rifles Hunter of the Finnish brand Tikka, which is part of the Beretta holding, are used by Russian servicemen at the front in Ukraine.

In addition, according to investigators, Beretta cooperates with the Russian arms concern “Kalashnikov”. Spare parts from Italian manufacturers can be found in Russian hunting carbines, such as, for example, the MP-156 semi-automatic rifle.

In order to bypass the sanctions, the CD Europe SR company supplies its products to Russia, and its Marocchi and Breda rifles are imported into Russia.

Marocchi is also engaged in the production of weapons together with Russian companies. At least since 2008, the company “Promtechnologia” has been assembling Marocchi Si12 semi-automatic inertial carbines from Italian components, the journalists write.

Since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, Russia has imported almost 7,300 firearms, including more than a hundred sniper rifles and almost eight million rounds of ammunition from Western manufacturers, according to journalists. Among them are American Smith & Wesson, Barrett Firearms and Desert Tech, Austrian Glock and Steyr Arms, as well as German companies Merkel Jagd- und Sport Waffen GmbH, Nammo Schönebeck, RWS, Ruag Ammotech, Blaser and others. At least part of the acquired Western weapons is used by the Russian military in Ukraine, the investigators write.

• Journalists-investigators have previously discovered several schemes with the help of which products that can be used for the war in Ukraine continue to enter Russia under Western sanctions. These are drones and parts for them, as well as chips and other electronic components used in the production of missiles.