In Lithuania an unnamed person, born in 1976, was found guilty of supplying weapons from Russia.
The Vilnius District Court fined him 20 thousand euros and the company he works for 50 thousand. This is one of the first cases where a person and his company have been found guilty of breaking international sanctions when transporting weapons and ammunition between Russia and Lithuania.
According to the court materials, the director and owner of the company knew that it was prohibited to import, export, or transport firearms, their parts, and ammunition through the territory of the Republic of Lithuania.
In 2019-2020, without specifying in customs declarations data about the actual country of purchase (sale) of goods, the defendant imported almost 1,300 firearms and 3,300 parts from the Russian Federation via the Kyrgyz Republic into Lithuania.
To obtain permits for importing/exporting weapons, their components, and ammunition, the accused submitted documents to the Licensing Division of the Police of the Republic that deliberately omitted identifying information regarding the weapons and indicated the country of origin.
The Customs Department under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania notes that the defendant has violated the decree of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania “On the Introduction of Economic Sanctions Restricting Arms Trade” and European Union sanctions imposed against Russia in 2014.
Judging by the photos published by the Lithuanian custom, it were the supplies of Saiga Carbines. These are self-loading rifles with a 10-shot magazine, developed based on the 7.62 x 39 mm Kalashnikov assault rifle, and are maximally similar to it. The Saiga carbine is produced by the Kalashnikov concern.
