Russia, bypassing sanctions, imports hundreds of rifles and pistols from the European Union (EU) every month, the web publication “The Insider” reports.
According to the data of the Federal Accreditation Service of Russia, in February of this year, Russian companies issued documents for the import of 159,220 cartridges and 1,338 small arms produced in the EU, USA, Turkey and Japan.
Of this number, 957 weapons were imported by circumventing sanctions. The rest is a 381 Turkish carbine.
Hunting rifles of the companies “ATA Turqua” (Turkey), “Sabatti” (Italy) and “Bergara” (USA) make up a significant part of imports.
The largest batch was 500 Austrian nine-millimeter Glock 17 Gen5 pistols, which are in the arsenal of police and special task forces in dozens of countries around the world.
Several dozen Finnish rifles “Sako S20” and “Tikka T3x”, as well as “Winchester XPR Strata” rifles from the Portuguese factory “Browning Viana” and Italian “Sabatti Urban Sniper” rifles were also imported.
Almost all rifles are chambered in “.308 Winchester” or “.300 Winchester Magnum” and are used by both civilian hunters and soldiers.
Apparently, because of the dual use, it is easier to get these weapons out of the producing countries, the publication says.
