Citizen of Kyrgyzstan Indicted in the U.S. for illegal firearms exports to Russia

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The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York last week indicted Sergey Zharnovnikov, a citizen of Kyrgyzstan, on charges of conspiracy to illegally export firearms from the United States to Russia. Zharnovnikov was arrested on Jan. 24 in Las Vegas, Nevada, after traveling there for the Shot Show, an industry trade event where he planned to meet with U.S. firearms manufacturers. He is currently in custody awaiting trial.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Zharnovnikov operated a scheme to circumvent U.S. export controls, smuggling semi-automatic firearms of American origin into Russia via Kyrgyzstan. To cover his tracks, he used two companies registered in Bishkek. One of these firms purchased American firearms under a five-year contract worth $900,000 with a U.S. company based in Chesapeake, Virginia. The second firm then acquired the weapons from the first and resold them to a Russian partner under a $10 million contract.

The charges against Zharnovnikov stem from a shipment made in the second half of 2022. On Jul. 2, he received an invoice from a U.S. company for 25 semi-automatic carbines. To pay for them, Zharnovnikov transferred funds from his second Kyrgyz company to the first and then forwarded $65,564 to the U.S.

Once payment was confirmed, on Jul. 7 the weapons were shipped from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to Bishkek. Four months later, on Nov. 14, the director of a Russian company filed an import tax declaration for carbines with the exact same serial numbers as those sent by Zharnovnikov from New York to Kyrgyzstan. The seller in this transaction was Zharnovnikov’s second Kyrgyz firm. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison.

Virginia – Bishkek – Moscow: Tracing the firearms smuggling network

Using data uncovered in its previous investigations, The Insider identified the three companies involved in this trafficking scheme.

The U.S. company located in Chesapeake, Virginia is Kriss USA, the American branch of the Swiss-based Kriss Group, founded in 2002. Kriss manufactures carbines, rifles, and pistols for both civilian and law enforcement use. The company is particularly known for its Kriss Vector series, which features a patented recoil mitigation system called the Super V System. Kriss USA’s annual revenue is estimated at $13.8 million.