More than three dozen Russians involved in arms trafficking, as well as at least 14 Russian defence companies, have so far escaped sanctions in connection with the full-scale war in Ukraine launched by Russia.
This was reported by Yevropeiska Pravda with reference to Reuters.
"For example, the former Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation, the largest shareholder of the Kalashnikov concern, Alan Lushnikov, is not currently under Western sanctions. The concern itself has been under US sanctions since 2014 over the annexation of Crimea, and this year the EU and the UK joined them," the report said.
According to the journalists, Kalashnikov is responsible for 95% of Russia's production of handguns, sniper rifles, pistols and other small arms.
According to the newspaper, the following companies also managed to avoid sanctions: ‘Degtyarev Plant, which produces machine guns, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons for the Russian army; Klimov Specialised Cartridge Plant and Novosibirsk Rifle Plant, which manufacture magazines for Kalashnikov rifles and pistols.
The sanctions were also not imposed on VSMPO-Avisma, which is the world's largest supplier of titanium and is 25% owned by Rostec, the largest military-industrial complex in Russia.
As a reminder, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption has prepared a list of the heads of Russian companies that manufacture weapons for the war in Ukraine.