Investigation: Western machinery at the heart of Russian arms factories — Swiss-linked network supplies Kalashnikov

KYIV – High-precision Western industrial machinery continues to keep Russia’s arms industry alive thanks to an intricate network of Swiss-linked companies, a new investigation by The Kyiv Independent, published on 21 September 2026, reveals.

Leaked documents obtained by the investigation show that more than 50 Russian defense companies use Western industrial machinery — Swiss, German and Swedish — to produce weapons used in the war against Ukraine. Their maintenance throughout the war has been handled by the Russian company Galika-Service, the Russian arm of the Swiss firm Galika AG.

Of Galika-Service’s 87 clients, 51 belong to the Russian defense sector, with contracts worth about $3 million. Its largest client is the Kalashnikov Concern, with contracts of around $800,000 — maker of automatic rifles, sniper rifles, drones and guided missiles. Second is the Tula Imperial Arms Factory, with about $500,000.

Machine brands identified in the investigation include GF Machining Solutions’ AgieCharmilles (Switzerland), Walter (Germany), Schaudt, Hexagon AB (Sweden) and Index-Traub (Germany).

Galika AG, founded in Zurich in 1986, violated Swiss export restrictions imposed between 2014 and 2022. Switzerland’s Federal Prosecutor found in 2025 that the company had made false declarations about the civilian use of the machines — which ended up on Russian military production lines. The company’s export manager was fined 1,500 Swiss francs.

Even after 2022, the network’s Russian arm continued to funnel European spare parts into Russia via Chinese and Turkish firms, bypassing sanctions. The central figure of the scheme is Swiss citizen Lino Derungs, who spent months in a Russian prison for tax evasion.

Allen Maggard, an expert at C4ADS, stresses that Russia imported large quantities of European tools between 2014 and 2022 and that Brussels should target the consumable parts that keep these machines running.

Source: The Kyiv Independent