US EditionGermany detains 5 men accused of illegally exporting goods to Russian defense companies
The network arranged approximately 16,000 shipments valued at €30 million to at least 24 sanctioned Russian defense firms, reportedly with support from Russian state agencies.
- Reported on Feb 2, German federal prosecutors said they detained five people accused of exporting goods to Russian defence firms in breach of EU sanctions, with arrests in Luebeck and the Herzogtum Lauenburg district.
- Prosecutors say the scheme began in early 2022 when Nikita S., a German-Russian national, used a Luebeck trading company to procure goods for Russia after its full-scale invasion .
- Investigators say the network organised about 16,000 shipments worth at least 30 million euros, with at least 24 Russian defence firms as end-users.
- Authorities will present the detainees to an investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice on Friday, with five suspects still at large, following raids in Luebeck, Frankfurt am Main, Nordwestmecklenburg, Nuremberg, and Ostholstein.
- The probe involved national intelligence and customs agencies working with the Federal Intelligence Service and Customs Criminal Investigation Office, amid European nations intensifying enforcement as the war nears its four‑year mark.
67 Articles
67 Articles
German authorities have arrested five people who exported goods worth at least 30 million euros to Russia, including to more than 20 arms companies, in violation of European Union sanctions, prosecutors said on Monday.
German authorities seem to have laid the craft to a Russian procurement network in northern Germany. Five alleged members were arrested in Lübeck. The accusation: They helped Moscow to circumvent sanctions – a total of 16,000 times. Among other things, the men were said to have procured goods through a front company and exported them to Russia in order to circumvent embargo provisions of the European Union.In several German federal states search…
The suspects are said to have transported equipment to Moscow weapons companies via front companies. The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office refers to 16,000 shipments circumventing European sanctions since the Ukrainian conflict.
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