Russians import hunting scopes to be used in war against Ukraine

In its war with Ukraine, Russian forces are using US-Chinese hunting scopes that arms companies purchase online.

Source: Vazhnye Istorii, a Russian media outlet

Details: It is reported that dozens of videos can be found on YouTube where Russian soldiers show scopes produced by Western manufacturers, in particular by Leupold (USA), Nightforce (USA – Japan), Holosun (USA – China), Swarovski Optik (Austria).

As discovered by Vazhnye Istorii, according to customs data, in 2022-2023, RUB 16 billion (about US$175 million) worth of scopes were imported into Russia.

It appears that "installation on hunting weapons" is stated as the official reason for the purchase. The publication does, however, point out that some of the scopes end up at the front.

Vazhnye Istorii claims that Pointer and Navigator are two of the leading importers.

The St Petersburg Pointer company works under the slogan "We have everything for a successful hunt". Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the company has imported almost 50,000 scopes of the American-Chinese manufacturer Holosun for more than RUB 3 billion (about US$33,000). And all the goods for hunting and sports, many of which are also used at the front, for RUB 17 billion (about US$185 million).

In 2022-2023 "hunting" goods from Pointer were bought, in particular, by arms companies. The manufacturer of Orsis rifles, Promtechnologia, bought RUB 55 million (about US$600,000) worth of goods. At the same time the Hunt store, which is owned by manufacturers of Bespoke Gun rifles, procured goods for RUB 33 million (about US360,000).

Since the beginning of the war, the Navigator store in Moscow bought scopes for the sum of RUB 400 million (about US$4.3 million), including over 2,000 Holosun scopes. RUB 4.5 billion (about US$49 million) worth of goods was purchased in general.

Among its buyers is the St Petersburg Technology company, which was associated with the late owner of the Wagner Private Military Company, Yevgeny Prigozhin. The company procured optics, rangefinders, glasses and other equipment for RUB 140 million (about US$1.52 million).

The Moscow Arms Company, which produces Bespoke Gun rifles, purchased American Nightforce optical scopes and other goods for RUB 12 million (about US$130,000) and the Hunt store associated with it bought a RUB 19 million (about US$206,000) worth. The manufacturer of Lobaev Arms rifles, Design Bureau of Integrated Systems, also bought goods from Navigator for RUB 21 million (about US$228,000).

"The import of scopes and other goods ‘for hunting’, of course, follows parallel imports – the manufacturers, most likely, do not know where their goods end up. Pointer uses intermediaries in China, while Navigator [imports through] Türkiye and Kazakhstan. Neither Pointer nor Navigator responded to Vazhnye Istorii’s request for comment," the media outlet points out in the article.

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