Kyrgyz National Pleads Guilty to Illegally Exporting Firearms to Russia
Kyrgyz national Sergei Zharnovnikov pleaded guilty June 25 to conspiracy to illegally export firearms and ammunition to Russia, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern Dstrict of New York announced. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
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Zharnovnikov is the owner of an arms dealer in Kyrgyzstan, referred to as "Kyrgyzstan Company-1," and since at least March 2020 has conspired with others to ship controlled firearms to Russia. He helped export over $1.5 million worth of U.S.-made firearms and ammunition from the U.S. to Russia, DOJ said.
In one instance, Zharnovnikov entered into a five-year contract worth $900,000 with a U.S. company to buy and export firearms to Kyrgyzstan. The Commerce Department issued a license for the exports, but the license barred the export or reexport of the goods to Russia. DOJ said Zharnovnikov nevertheless exported and reexported the firearms, including semiautomatic hybrid rifle-pistols, to Russia via Kyrgyzstan.