I’ve written a new piece for the ARES company blog, The Hoplite, on Ukrainian made copies of Brügger & Thomet APR rifles deployed in Kiev during the ongoing civil unrest. You can read the full article here.
The Ukrainian copies are produced under license by Tactical Systems Ltd (TS). According to B&T, the license for the entire APR range (four models) as well as other B&T products was approved by the Swiss licensing body, SECO, in 2009. The TS rifles are known as the TS 308 and TS 338, and are produced in Ukraine and branded with the TS logo. B&T told us there may also be “some technical differences”. According to Konstantin Khurshudian, director of Tactical Systems, TS series rifles were sold to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for use by special security forces during the 2012 UEFA European Championship. Thus far, Ministry of Internal Affairs forces are the only users.
You can read the piece in its entirety, here.
The Rogue Adventurer 
This isn’t the best image taken from:
As this team was the second in line situated on corner Institytuts’ka S and Bankavo St in Kyiv and probably didn’t act. On the background you can hear firing AK-47’s near the Cabinet of Ministers and the National Museum.