This week, the FBI arrested Alexey Brayman, a resident of Merrimack, New Hampshire who was using his Etsy craft store as a front to run a weapons-smuggling ring to the Kremlin.
Speaking to CNN's Erin Burnett on Wednesday, Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) emphasized that this operation is a sign of how dire a toll the global sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine is taking on their ability to procure weapons for their military.
"So, congressman, I do want to ask you about ... this Russian smuggling, Russian weapons smuggling ring here in the United States," said Burnett. "What does this tell you about Putin? I mean, why he would even be doing this, that he's going to such lengths to do something like this?"
"First, I would say that this is not unusual," said Himes. "For decades — for generations — we've been facing Chinese, Russian, other efforts to get our equipment. Your correspondent is exactly right that this is a sign of desperation, this is stuff that could ordinarily be bought on the open market by the Russian government. But it cannot be bought by the Russian government now that, of course, sanctions and prohibitions are in place."
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Additionally, said Himes, "the FBI is exactly right. Obviously a guy with a trunk full of rounds, that's a guy who can assist in the creation of an awful lot of mayhem."
"But at the end of the day, there is no way in the world that you can restock, rearm, and refurbish the Russian military by guys driving cars across the border of Estonia," added Himes. "So, we need to continue to take this stuff really, really seriously. But it is a sign of desperation."
Watch the video below or at this link.