Sniper loophole: How Western arms reach Russian hands
Despite the embargo imposed by EU countries on Russia in 2014, Russia continues to procure sniper weapons and ammunition from Western manufacturers. Reports from the Insider portal indicate that Western companies have increased sales to Central Asian and Caucasian countries, from where the weapons make their way to Russia.
Insider carried out a journalistic investigation in collaboration with Czech Republic’s Investigate.cz, Italy’s IrpiMedia, and Kazakhstan’s Vlast.kz. They discovered that in recent years, companies from the European Union, the United States, and Turkey have ramped up arms deliveries to Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. Every year, tens of thousands of weapons are sent to these countries, which then end up in the aggressor country.
In September this year, sniper competitions were held in Russian-occupied Crimea. In the 1,600 metre competition, the most popular weapons used by Russian snipers were the American Desert Tech SRS (7 out of 36 competitors), the British Accuracy International AXSR (7 out of 36), and the Austrian Steyr Mannlicher SSG (also 7 out of 36). Only seven participants used Russian weapons, and only four used Russian ammunition.
Weapons enter through the back door
In 2020, Western producers of sniper weapons sold a total of 19,556 precision firearms to Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. By 2023, this number had increased to 53,211. Western manufacturers officially sell weapons to companies in countries neighbouring Russia. These can then be easily found in the offerings of stores or private sellers in Russia, as revealed by the Insider's investigation.
When EU countries imposed an embargo on weapons sales to Russia after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, two significant loopholes were identified in the regulations, claims Insider. Firstly, EU Council Regulation No. 833/2014 of July 31, 2014, allowed for new deliveries under contracts concluded before August 1, 2014.
Secondly, the document did not introduce any export control measures to the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. These countries are connected by a customs union and are members of the military-political bloc CSTO. This means that a customs declaration or a certificate for weapons issued by one of the EAEU countries is valid in any other, including Russia.
Insider also notes that modern Western sniper rifles are sought by Russians partly because the most common Russian-made sniper rifle, the SVD or Dragunov sniper rifle, was developed in 1963 and has not undergone significant modernization since. Its effective range is 600-700 metres, whereas modern Western rifles are precise over much greater distances and are significantly lighter.
