FSB Identifies and Closes Down Seven Underground Arms Manufacturers on Russian Territory

Paul Goble

            Staunton, April 30 – The Moscow Center for Public Relations of the Special Services says that FSB officers have identified seven underground arms manufacturers across the country that are both producing new weapons and modifying old ones and closed them down (rbc.ru/society/29/04/2020/5ea941ab9a79471a359ab9c0).

            The FSB seized 95 guns, 17 kilograms of explosives, 550 detonators, 5,000 bullets and 16 silencers. This police action comes on the heels of Russian government efforts to reduce the sale of guns and ammunition at a time of the pandemic and associated economic crisis lest these weapons be used by criminals or militants of one kind or another.

            Such underground manufacturers can help to meet the demand for weapons that Russians have but cannot satisfy in the normal legal way (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2020/04/gun-sales-in-russia-down-but-russians.html). This police action and the prominence the authorities are giving it suggests some in the power vertical are worried.