The monument to GRU officer Sergei Gorin in the town of Sevsk. Photo: “Special Purpose Channel” («Канал специального назначения») / Telegram
In September 2025, a memorial was unveiled in the town of Sevsk in Russia’s Bryansk Region. It honors GRU major Sergei Gorin, who was killed in March 2022 during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A brief item about the monument appeared in the local newspaper Sevskaya Pravda in December, and on Feb. 14 a photo of the memorial was published by a pro-war Telegram channel.
The monument dedicated to the Russian military intelligence officer depicts him holding an Austrian Steyr Mannlicher SSG 08 sniper rifle. The model is clear from the rifle’s design: the shape of the chassis with slots on the sides and underneath, the folding stock with an adjustable cheek rest and butt pad, and the angled pistol grip (among multiple other distinct features). This may not have been a blunder on the part of the designer (unlike, for example, the Victory Day poster in the Republic of Khakassia that depicted American fighter planes instead of Soviet ones). In the case of the memorial in Sevsk, it is quite likely that major Gorin was intentionally depicted holding the weapon that he used in combat during his lifetime.
Sergei Gorin was born in 1990. After graduating from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School, he served in the GRU special operations forces, taking part in Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the war in Syria. He was killed in Ukraine in March 2022.
Russia’s Defense Ministry began official purchases of Austrian sniper rifles in 2011 in order to replace outdated Soviet SVD rifles (also known as the Dragunov sniper rifle) that had been developed back in the 1960s. In September 2013, the state defense corporation Rostec signed a joint-production agreement with Steyr Mannlicher in order to begin the manufacture of small arms at a facility in the city of Izhevsk. Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 prevented the joint venture from coming to fruition, but Austrian export deliveries to Russia continued.
In 2010, Steyr Mannlicher Holding GmbH had established a Russian subsidiary, Steyr Mannlicher LLC (ООО «Штайр Маннлихер»), with 75% of its capital owned by the Austrian holding company and 25% by entrepreneur Dmitry Startsev. The joint venture was liquidated in 2014. However, a second firm belonging to Startsev, Arsenal Weapons Salon LLC (ООО «Оружейный Салон „Арсенал“»), continued to receive Austrian weapons. Deliveries were not halted even after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine: from February 2022 through February 2024, Arsenal received import documents for 63 Steyr-made rifles. Aside from Arsenal, Steyr weapons were also imported by Hunter-Ru LLC (ООО «Хантер-Ру») and Test-Oruzhie LLC (ООО «Тест-Оружие»), the latter of which is linked to entities associated with the arms baron Mikhail Khubutia.
The Insider previously reported that it had used open-source data to confirm that Austrian rifles are used by sniper units in at least five Russian Defense Ministry brigades: the 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade of the Pacific Fleet, the 31st Guards Air Assault Brigade (which stormed Hostomel Airport near Kyiv in February 2022), the 14th Separate Special Forces Brigade of the GRU Spetsnaz, the 3rd Guards Separate Brigade of the GRU Spetsnaz, and the 37th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade.
Sergei Gorin was born in 1990. After graduating from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School, he served in the GRU special operations forces, taking part in Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the war in Syria. He was killed in Ukraine in March 2022.
The Austrian rifles are also used by Wagner private military contractors in Ukraine, Libya, and Syria, as well as by the “Sparta” special unit from the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” and by the Federal Protective Service (FSO) snipers responsible for Vladimir Putin’s security.
In April 2025, North Korean troops used new sniper rifles in drills, including ones fired by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Military experts (along with Reddit users) noted the striking resemblance between the purported North Korean weapon and the Steyr Mannlicher SSG 08. The new rifles appeared in North Korea two weeks after Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu paid a visit to Pyongyang.
Sergei Gorin was born in 1990. After graduating from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School, he served in the GRU special operations forces, taking part in Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the war in Syria. He was killed in Ukraine in March 2022.