Rifle scopes made by Meopta OptikaTurkey remains one of Russia’s main transshipment points for complex Western equipment and components used in weapons production. Factories that are part of the Russian military-industrial complex import the most expensive and precise equipment through Turkey, while larger-volume shipments generally arrive via China. The Insider has found that over the past two years, European-made rifle scopes, along with measuring equipment used in drone production, were shipped from Turkey to Russia.Scopes made by the Czech company Meopta Optika were supplied to Russia by the Turkish firm Av Doga Av Ve Deniz Gerecleri. The buyer was the Russian intermediary company Alliance LLC (ООО «Альянс»), a longtime supplier to the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN). Alliance has appeared several times in The Insider’s investigations. After the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the company imported 2,000 Czech Česká Zbrojovka hunting rifles and over 100 Austrian Glock pistols into Russia.Similar products made by Germany’s Kilic Feintechnik GmbH and Croatia’s Rusan-Mikron were purchased by Nord LLC (ООО «Норд»), a reseller that has long supplied the Federal Security Service (FSB). The Turkish exporter in that case was listed as Algo Lojistik Limited Sirketi.Micrometers, outside calipers, and vernier calipers made by the U.S. company Fowler were shipped through Turkey to the Alabuga special economic zone, where the Shahed drones Russia uses to attack Ukraine almost daily are produced. Other critical equipment entered Russia through Turkey: high-precision oscilloscopes, crosstalk meters, and absorbed-power sensors made by Germany’s Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG and the U.S. companies Keysight Technologies and Ametek Advanced Measurement Technology. The equipment is used to develop and tune electronic warfare systems.Rangefinders made by well-known European optical equipment manufacturers also entered Russia from Turkey. The list of companies included Germany’s Lase Industrielle Lasertechnik GmbH and Zoller+Frohlich GmbH, Switzerland’s Leica Geosystems AG, the U.S.-Japanese company Omron Automotive Electronics Co. Ltd., and Canada’s Hermary Opto Electronics Inc. Rangefinders are indispensable on the front line, where they are used to measure distance to a target. In this case, however, the shipments involved higher level technologies of the sort that are used by weapons factories to measure products, calibrate equipment, and control the quality of manufactured parts.Machine tools, welding machines, and other metalworking equipment sought by military plants are also supplied to Russia through Turkey. They include German welding units, computerized automatic metal machining centers, and a laser system made by LAP GmbH Laser Applikationen for high-speed, high-precision cutting, welding, cladding, and heat-treatment systems.Equipment for microchip production reaches Russia by the same route. A German backscattered electron diffraction analyzer made by Staib Instrumente GmbH is designed for vacuum installations that apply coatings through layer-by-layer deposition, which is essential in microchip manufacturing. The Italian company Seica S.p.A. is a world-renowned maker of printed circuit board testing equipment. Its products are used, for example, to produce the electronics inside ballistic missiles.Another type of equipment imported into Russia through Turkey is not directly linked to the military-industrial complex but is in high demand among fuel exporters: flow meters and level sensors that allow operators to determine with high precision how full a tanker or oil reservoir is. They are produced by prominent Western companies including Endress+Hauser, Krohne Ltd., Pietro Fiorentini S.p.A., Dinel s.r.o., and Heinrichs Kobold Group.