US Charges Kyrgyz National With Smuggling Weapons to Russia
Sergei Zharnovnikov, a Kyrgyzstan national, was charged this week with illegal smuggling and conspiring to illegally export firearms from the U.S. to Russia. Zharnovnikov, who faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted, traveled to the U.S. last month for the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas, where he was arrested.
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Starting in at least March 2020, Zharnovnikov allegedly worked with others to export firearms to Russia that were subject to Commerce Department controls. DOJ said he used his company, an arms dealing business located in Kyrgyzstan, to enter into a five-year contract with a Virginia company to buy and export the company's firearms to Kyrgyzstan.
Commerce issued a license for the unnamed U.S. company to export the firearms, though the license barred the export or reexport of weapons to Russia. DOJ alleged that Zharnovnikov nevertheless exported the weapons, which included "semi-automatic hybrid rifle-pistols," to Russia via Kyrgyzstan.
The indictment said that after Zharnovnikov's company entered into a contract with the U.S. manufacturer, a second arms dealer company associated with Zharnovnikov in Kyrgyzstan entered into a contract with a Russian arms dealer to export around $10 million in arms to Russia.