Russia receives small arms cartridges made by US company Hornady
Russia is evading sanctions and being supplied with cartridges produced by the Hornady American company.
Source: Politico media outlet, which investigated how US-made sniper rifle ammunition was being supplied to the Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine
Documents, obtained by Politico, suggest that Promtekhnologiya company from Moscow, which got under the US sanctions, and another Russian firm Tetis have purchased hundreds of thousands of cartridges, made by the Hornady US company, which is selling its production under the motto Accurate. Deadly. Dependable and describes them as "Ten bullets through one hole."
Such cartridges are mainly used by fighters of the Wagner Private Military Company, which is fighting against Ukraine.
Steve Hornady, CEO of the Hornady company, assured that his company does not trade with Russia.
"We categorically are NOT exporting anything to Russia and have not had an export permit for Russia since 2014. We do not support any sale of our product to any Russian son-of-a-bitch and if we can find out how they acquire it, if in fact they do, we will take all steps available to stop it," – stressed Hornady.
Meanwhile, journalists found the certificates issued by Promtekhnologiya for importing over 100,000 of .338 Lapua Magnum cartridges and 5,000 bullet shells of the same calibre produced by the Hornady company.
Another Russian buyer of Hornady ammunition is a company called Tetis, which declared import of over 300,000 cartridges for hunting rifles of various calibres from the Hornady catalogue. The founders of the company, Alexander Levandovsky and Sergey Senchenko, have ties to the Russian Ministry of Defence.
Since Politico is a US media outlet, the article mainly mentions the US cartridge manufacturer but there are also certificates for cartridges produced by Germany, Finland, Turkey and other countries.
For instance, another manufacturer of .338 calibre cartridges, mentioned in the investigation, is Slovenian company Valerian d.o.o.
It also denies supplies to Russia but export could have been carried out through third countries. A diplomatic source stated that the Valerian exported separate batches of cartridges to Kyrgyzstan.
"The findings add to a growing body of evidence that supplies of lethal and nonlethal military equipment are still reaching Russia despite the West’s imposition of unprecedented sanctions in response to President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last year. The exigencies of war have exposed Russia’s lack of capacity to manufacture high-end sniper rounds, say defense experts, and that is fueling a flourishing black market for Western ammunition," – Politico concludes.
Background:
Russia is producing missiles using electronic components, made in the US, Switzerland, Germany and Japan but 81% of such components are produced in the US. It was revealed in the new documents by the Yermak-McFaul Expert Group on Russian Sanctions.
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