Someone in Siberia won’t be getting his machine gun thanks to the vigilance of Russian Post employees, who discovered the contents of the illegal parcel and handed them over to the police.

An attempt to send a RPK (Kalashnikov hand-held machine gun) and two Simonov rifles via mail was thwarted on Thursday, the Russian Post said in a statement. The company’s Security Service in Moscow was checking the packages with special equipment when the find was made.

The parcel with weapons was to be delivered from the capital to Zabaikalsky Region in southeast Russia on the Chinese border. But its contents were passed on to the police, together with the information on the sender, the Russian Post said.

The RPK is a powerful weapon, which is capable of firing 650 rounds per minute and hitting targets at a distance of more than 3km.

According to Russian Post, it’s the second such incident in the space of just a single month.

Earlier in February, a parcel with a rifle and a submachine gun was intercepted. It was also on its way from Moscow to Zabaikalsky Region.

Russian law prohibits the mailing of firearms, signal, pneumatic and gas weapons as well as ammunition, melee arms and electric shock devices, Russian Post noted, adding that all parcels are checked by its staff, including with the use of special screening equipment.

Security Service of the Russian Post revealed a Kalashnikov machine gun and carbines in a parcel from Moscow to Siberia


On the morning of February 26, 2018, during the processing of mail using specialized inspection equipment in Moscow, security specialists of the Russian Post discovered in mail items 3 units of a hunting firearm: two Simonov rifles and a Kalashnikov machine gun. The parcel was sent from Moscow to the Trans-Baikal Territory.

The detected weapons and information about the sender and the recipient were transferred to law enforcement agencies for the adoption of a procedural decision.

This incident did not affect the processing and delivery of mail.

Let's remind you about the rules for sending mail. According to the 176-FZ "On Postal Communication" in postal items within the Russian Federation, shipment is prohibited:

a) firearms, signaling, pneumatic, gas weapons, ammunition, cold steel (including throwing), electroshock devices and spark gaps, the main parts of firearms, as well as explosive and other devices that pose a danger to human life and health;

b) narcotic drugs, psychotropic, potent, radioactive, explosive, poisonous, corrosive, flammable and other dangerous substances;

c) poisonous animals and plants;

d) currency of the Russian Federation and foreign currency (except for those sent by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and its institutions);

e) perishable food products;

e) items and substances that, by their nature or packaging, may pose a danger to postal workers, contaminate or damage (damage) other mail items and postal equipment.
It is worth noting that security issues and the legitimacy of the contents of mail items are under special control of the Russian Postal Security Service. In a constant mode, within the framework of the current legislation, the contents of mail items are inspected at various stages of shipment, including using special equipment installed in the places of sorting and processing of parcels and small packages.