Russian Officer Bought Sniper Ammunition and Centrifuge in Switzerland. Country Votes on Banning Own Sanctions in a Month

The Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office has opened two criminal proceedings in a case in which Russian military intelligence acquired sniper ammunition and laboratory equipment usable in the production of chemical weapons in the country. One branch has already ended with a suspended sentence, the second remains open. The handovers took place in parking garages and inconspicuous locations near Bern and around Basel, while the Russian officer has since left the country. In less than a month, on September 27, the Swiss will vote on an initiative that would prohibit the country from adopting economic sanctions against warring states unless approved by the UN Security Council. Watson ↗

A Thousand Rounds in Initial Reports, Up to 38,000 According to Tages-Anzeiger

In autumn 2023, a Bern weapons dealer repeatedly met with a man officially listed as an employee of the Russian mission in Bern. Swiss counterintelligence identified him as Igor Sergejevich Skrjabin, an officer of Russian military intelligence. They did not meet in a shop, but in an underground garage of a nearby shopping center, where the dealer handed over crates of ammunition. 20 Minuten ↗

The dealer then admitted to selling at least a thousand rounds of Swiss P Tactical ammunition, i.e., precision sniper ammunition. He claimed he was unaware of the need for a permit and spoke of a gray area. "What happened simply cannot be undone," he told journalists. 20 Minuten ↗

This is where a new element comes in. The investigative team of Tages-Anzeiger newspaper, which has been following the case since 2024, reported Saturday night that the total volume of deliveries was substantially larger — over 38,000 rounds, mostly sniper ammunition, worth more than 200,000 francs. According to the newspaper, the dealer is 80 years old and explains the parking lot handovers as being more practical than in the shop. This figure has not been published by any other media so far, so it should be read as one newsroom's finding, not as a confirmed court fact. Tages-Anzeiger ↗

Cooling Equipment and Centrifuge

Ammunition was only one branch. The same Russian officer also secured cooling equipment and a centrifuge from a laboratory equipment company in northwestern Switzerland. These are devices that can be used in the production of chemical or biological weapons. The handovers took place similarly to the ammunition — in garages and inconspicuous locations around Basel. Watson ↗

The distinction is important because some headlines blur it. These were not weapons or combat substances, but so-called dual-use goods — equipment with civilian and military applications subject to export controls. Where the equipment ultimately ended up remains unknown to this day. The investigation also found no indication that an attack was being prepared within Switzerland itself. Watson ↗

This branch has already come before the courts. In May this year, the entrepreneur who supplied the equipment received sixteen months suspended sentence from the Federal Criminal Court for serious violation of the goods control law. Two Russians, with whom he had done business for years and met alternately in a home improvement store and a hotel, have since disappeared. NZZ am Sonntag ↗

Roughly Every Third Employee Works for Intelligence Services

The case is not isolated, and Swiss authorities say so openly. Russia has approximately 220 accredited representatives in the country, divided between the embassy and trade mission in Bern, the consulate general in Geneva, and the UN mission. The intelligence service NDB estimates that at least a third of them actually work for Russian intelligence services. SRF ↗

In the Switzerland Security Report 2026, released at the end of June, the intelligence service states that Russia ranks first among states with covert bases in Switzerland. According to it, foreign intelligence and the military GRU maintain agent networks in the country, and their tasks are four: espionage, political influence, propaganda, and procurement of sensitive goods. The last item is precisely what was happening in garages near Bern and Basel. SRF ↗

Why Switzerland specifically is explained by someone who knows the apparatus from the inside. Boris Bondarev was a Russian diplomat for twenty years, most recently at the UN mission in Geneva, and resigned after the invasion of Ukraine. He now lives in a secret location under police protection. According to him, many European states expelled Russian intelligence officers or reduced their diplomatic structures after 2022, and some of these positions shifted precisely to Switzerland. According to him, the country is useful for operations due to its central European location and because its counterintelligence is insufficient for the task. NZZ am Sonntag ↗

Why This Comes Out a Month Before the Vote

The timing is not coincidental, and should not be viewed conspiratorially — Swiss newsrooms are writing about Russian presence right now because the topic has entered the neutrality debate. The initiative being decided on September 27 would prohibit the country from joining economic sanctions against warring states unless it is a UN Security Council decision. A public SRG survey gives it little chance, but the campaign has attracted Bern's attention for something else — namely who has joined its side. SRF ↗

Read also: Swiss Will Vote on Banning Own Sanctions. The Campaign for Neutrality Features People with Ties to Moscow

Russian state media and diplomats are communicating the topic visibly. According to the intelligence service, Russia Today increased the number of reports on Switzerland by a quarter last year, and their tone was distinctly negative, becoming even sharper before the vote. Russian Consul General in Geneva Igor Popov recently claimed to a Russian state agency that Swiss authorities refuse Russians entry for treatment without stating reasons. The State Secretariat for Migration responded with figures: from January to the end of July, it issued 158 visas to Russian citizens for health reasons. NZZ am Sonntag ↗

Work with an environment favorable to Moscow is also visible. Russian Ambassador Sergei Garmonin received a group of people on June 22 in Bern, some of whom received diplomas and letters of thanks from the Russian Foreign Ministry. Among those honored, according to photographs, was the head of the Swiss chapter of the Night Wolves motorcycle club. The embassy stated that it honors compatriots and Swiss citizens who have contributed to the cultivation of historical memory or to bilateral relations. NZZ am Sonntag ↗

Limitations of This Perspective

The picture that emerges has three weaknesses worth naming. First, the key figure on the scope of ammunition deliveries comes from one newsroom and has not yet been independently confirmed. Second, the two media outlets on which the article most relies have their own positions — NZZ is a right-liberal newspaper with a long-standing critical stance toward Moscow, and Tamedia's commentaries have long advocated a harder line toward Moscow. Their findings are verifiable; their selection of topics, however, is not neutral.

Third, and most importantly, nothing suggests that the neutrality campaign is run by Moscow. The intelligence service does not claim this either. What is documented is something weaker, but still substantial: that the Russian state actively communicates on this topic and that an intelligence apparatus operates in the country whose scale Swiss authorities also acknowledge. There is a difference between "Russia is interested in the outcome" and "Russia organizes the outcome," a distinction easily lost in such texts.

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