Beretta CEO served on board of Russian arms importer after start of war in Ukraine, supplying Benelli shotguns used by Russian forces

Pietro Gussalli Beretta, CEO of the Italian arms manufacturer Beretta Holding, served on the board of Russian Eagle throughout 2022, a new investigation by The Insider has found. During that year, Russian Eagle imported 3,919 weapons into Russia that had been produced by factories belonging to Beretta Holding, which was and is the Russian firm’s main owner. New documents show that the holding company not only owned but also may have managed the Russian company, which obtained thousands of Beretta-made weapons after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, bypassing sanctions.

Most of the imported weapons were hunting shotguns. But hundreds of sniper rifles and military shotguns were also brought into Russia. By 2025 at the latest, Russian troops had begun using Benelli shotguns to counter FPV drones. Tikka and Sako sniper rifles, produced by Beretta Holding’s factory in Finland, are also actively used by Russian marksmen.

In February 2024, The Insider and IRPI Media published a joint investigation showing that the European arms holding company Beretta owned Russian Eagle LLC, a major Russian weapons importer. The United States later sanctioned Beretta’s Russian subsidiary and arrested two intermediaries who supplied weapons through Kyrgyzstan. Despite these developments, no investigation into the smuggling allegations was opened in Italy or in the European Union. When Beretta’s CEO was asked at a February 2026 parliamentary hearing about arms smuggling to Russia, the session was closed immediately after the question was posed.

Amid this lack of official interest, companies linked to Beretta’s Russian business partner Mikhail Khubutia continue to receive the holding company’s weapons. The most recent known shipment was processed in April 2026.

Production, ownership, management

According to Beretta Holding’s 2022 corporate governance and ownership report, Beretta Holding CEO Pietro Gussalli Beretta held senior positions that year in 19 other organizations. One of them was Russian Eagle LLC, a Russian arms importer in which Beretta Holding still owns a 57% stake.

Taken together, the documents show that in 2022 the Russian company was managed with the participation of the head of Beretta Holding and received weapons produced by the holding company. From March to September 2022, Russian Eagle imported 3,919 weapons made by Italy’s Benelli Armi S.p.A., Fabbrica d’Armi Pietro Beretta S.p.A. and Turkey’s Stoeger Silah Sanayi A.S., which is also part of Beretta Holding.

Although most of the imported firearms were smoothbore hunting shotguns, more than 1,000 units could be used by both civilian and military shooters. According to data from Russia’s Federal Accreditation Agency, Russian Eagle imported 1,164 Franchi Horizon bolt-action rifles in .308 Win and .30-06 Springfield calibers. Those calibers were originally developed for military use but later became common among civilian shooters.

In total, from March 2022 through February 2024, Russian arms importers registered at least 15,337 weapons made by Western companies. Nearly 40% of them — 6,064 units — were produced by factories belonging to Beretta Holding: Benelli Armi, Fabbrica d’Armi Pietro Beretta, Beretta Benelli Ibérica, Sako Limited, and Stoeger Silah Sanayi. After The Insider and IRPI Media published their investigation into the smuggling of European weapons, the Russian Federal Accreditation Agency stopped publishing data for several customs commodity codes, rendering precise figures for later periods unavailable.

Benelli and Tikka in the Russian military

From February through August 2022, Russian Eagle also imported hundreds of Benelli semiautomatic shotguns: 173 M2 models, 35 M3 models and 120 M4 models. These shotguns are widely used by military and security forces around the world. The M4 was created at the request of the U.S. Army Armaments Research, Development, and Engineering Center (ARDEC) and is used by the armies of the UK and the U.S., as well as the Spanish Marine Corps.

In addition, since at least 2025, Benelli M4 shotguns have also been used by Russian troops. Last November, Russia’s Armed Forces held a military tactical shooting championship at Patriot Park outside of Moscow. On each team, one of the four participants was armed with a smoothbore weapon used to counter drones. Some shooters preferred Italian Benelli shotguns to the Russian-made MP-155 produced by the Kalashnikov concern. The Benelli M4 stands out in photos from the competition because of its pistol grip and distinctive telescopic stock.

Even Russia’s Federal Protective Service (FSO) — the agency responsible for protecting the country’s top officials, including Vladimir Putin — has adopted the practice of using smoothbore firearms against FPV drones (despite being far from the front). At the annual Victory Day parade this past May 9, security officers could be seen carrying Benelli M2 shotguns. When commenters on one pro-war blog asked why the bodyguards of Russia’s top officials were using Italian weapons instead of Kalashnikov’s MP-155, more pragmatic users referenced the superior shooting qualities of the imported models.

By coincidence or not, several months earlier Beretta Holding’s military division, Beretta Defense Technologies, unveiled a new Drone Guardian self-loading shotgun for countering drones. The only difference between the new weapon and the shotguns used by Russian troops is the presence of a holographic sight, which helps acquire targets faster.

Another Beretta Holding factory, Finland’s Sako Limited, produces weapons no less important to the Russian military: hunting firearms and sniper rifles under the Sako and Tikka brands. Finnish rifles in modern long-range calibers surpass Kalashnikov-made weapons in range and accuracy while remaining more affordable than British and American brands. Both Sako and Tikka rifles are in demand among Russian snipers. At the Russian Sniping Cup held in Sterlitamak on Aug. 24-25, 2024, several shooters could be seen using rifles from the two Finnish brands. Sako TRG-22 rifles are also used by SOBR, the special rapid-response unit of the Interior Ministry of Belarus.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Orel LLC imported at least 136 rifles produced by Sako Limited. Orel is owned by Ilya Khubutia, the son of Beretta’s business partner. Other major importers of weapons from the Finnish factory included Alliance LLC, Artemida, ItalRuzhye and Okhotnik, which imported 397, 48, 76 and 81 rifles, respectively.

Arrests in the United States, silence in Europe

In December 2024, a joint investigation by The Insider, Czechia’s Investigace.cz, Italy’s IRPI Media and Kazakhstan’s vlast.kz described several arrangements that allowed Western weapons and ammunition to continue reaching Russia. The response by regulators on each  side of the Atlantic was sharply different.

The United States sanctioned Beretta’s Russian company, Russian Eagle LLC, in June 2024. In late January 2025, Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security — likely acting on a tip from counterparts in the U.S. — arrested a gang member who had been bringing disassembled U.S.-made firearms into Russia. Several days later, Kyrgyz citizen Sergei Zharnovnikov was arrested in the United States. His firm, Azhy Mamat Company LLC, supplied Russia with U.S.-made KRISS Vector and Kel-Tec carbines, as well as Austrian Glock pistols. Another of Zharnovnikov’s accomplices was arrested later. Then, on  March 30, 2026, Italian citizen Manfred Gruber appeared in federal court in Brooklyn, ultimately pleading guilty to smuggling more than $540,000 worth of ammunition.

The trail of the last two men leads to Beretta’s Russian partner, Mikhail Khubutia. Before the full-scale war, Khubutia’s company, Kolchuga — literally translated as “chain mail” — worked directly with Manfred Gruber’s Bignami S.p.A. In 2022 and 2023, Orel LLC, owned by Khubutia’s son, received the previously mentioned Glock pistols and KRISS Vector carbines from Zharnovnikov’s company. One might have expected European regulators to respond even more decisively than their U.S. counterparts. In practice, however, the opposite has happened.

In February 2024, IRPI Media sent requests that included thousands of serial numbers of weapons delivered to Russia. Italy’s Financial Security Committee (CSF), whose duties include “monitoring the functioning of the system for preventing and countering the activities of countries that threaten international peace and security,” told IRPI Media that it was “not competent in matters of imposing arms embargoes.” The economy, foreign, and defense ministries did not respond to the outlet’s requests.

On Feb. 18, 2026, the security commission of the Italian Chamber of Deputies held a hearing on national security and new threats. Beretta S.p.A. President Franco Gussalli Beretta and Beretta S.p.A. CEO Carlo Ferlito answered legislators’ questions. When lawmaker Marco Pellegrini asked them about the smuggling of the holding company’s weapons to Russia, they assured him that no more than 15 hunting shotguns had reached Russia since the start of Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. When Pellegrini followed up by asking about thousands of weapons, including sniper rifles, the chair effectively closed the session. Below is a transcript of the final minutes:

Marco Pellegrini: “...I just wanted to make it clear that obviously I would never have asked the question if I had gathered, from reading newspaper articles, that the number of rifles was limited to fifteen units. I, on the other hand, had the opportunity to read – the source is IrpiMedia.eu, so maybe someone from Beretta will be able to verify it – an article that spoke of over six thousand rifles and pistols and, among other things, also sniper rifles, as well as 1 million and more ammunition. I remain curious about Beretta’s control over the importer.”

Antonio Minardo, chair: “Thank you. If there are no other requests to speak, I thank the colleagues present and our guests for their answers…I therefore declare the hearing closed.”

Since then, new shipments of European weapons continue to flow to Moscow. Data on the latest shipment of the holding company’s weapons date to this past spring. On March 17, Kolchuga LLC, owned by Rafik Yetumyan (a nominal owner for Mikhail Khubutia and Beretta’s partner in Russian Eagle), received 30 Benelli Argo-E carbines in .308 Win and 10 carbines of the same model in .30-06 Springfield.

In response to The Insider’s request for comment, Beretta Holding representatives said they “reject any attempt to distort our group’s position or undermine its reputation.” The representatives said Russian Eagle LLC “was excluded from consolidated reporting as soon as this became legally and practically possible” — without specifying the date of that exclusion. Beretta said all companies in the group had ceased commercial activity with the Russian market. Commenting on certificates of conformity issued by a government agency, Beretta referred to increasingly frequent cases of counterfeit goods being sold and fabricated, and of misleading images being published.