Sergei Zharnovnikov, International Arms Smuggling, New York 2025

A sophisticated scheme to circumvent export controls and export semi-automatic firearms to Russia has landed an international arms dealer behind bars. Sergeant Zharnovnikov, a citizen of Kyrgyzstan, was arrested on January 24, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was attending the Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show to meet with U.S. arms dealers.

The indictment filed in federal court in Brooklyn alleges that Zharnovnikov conspired to export firearms from the United States to Russia without the necessary licenses and with illegal smuggling. As the General Director and owner of an arms dealer located in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyzstan Company-1), Zharnovnikov entered into a five-year, $900,000 contract with a company located in Chesapeake, Virginia (U.S. Company-1) to purchase and export U.S. Company-1 firearms to Kyrgyzstan.

The license issued by the DOC prohibited the export or re-export of the firearms to Russia, but Zharnovnikov allegedly exported and re-exported U.S. Company-1 firearms to Russia via Kyrgyzstan. These illegally exported firearms included semi-automatic hybrid rifle-pistols from U.S. Company-1.

Zharnovnikov has been detained pending trial and will be arraigned in the Eastern District of New York at a later date.

The indictment alleges that Zharnovnikov knowingly conspired with others to violate the export control laws of the United States to provide U.S.-made firearms to Russian companies. The FBI will continue to enforce the export control laws enacted to safeguard our national security.

The case is a significant blow to those who attempt to evade United States sanctions by smuggling firearms to prohibited destinations such as Russia. Violations of export control laws carry significant consequences for perpetrators in the U.S. and abroad.

As alleged in the indictment and other court filings, since at least March 2020, the defendant, together with others, conspired to export firearms on the United States DOC Control List from the U.S. to Russia. Zharnovnikov faces serious charges for his role in this scheme.

The indictment charges Zharnovnikov with conspiring to export firearms from the United States to Russia without the necessary licenses and with illegal smuggling.

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