Entrepreneur who supplied Russia with drone components jailed for six years in Germany

A German court has sentenced a man with dual German-Russian citizenship to six years and nine months' imprisonment for selling electronics to Russian companies for military purposes in defiance of sanctions. Source: European Pravda with reference to Reuters Details: The Stuttgart City Court said the man, 59, had supplied 120,000 parts that could be used for military purposes to Russia over the period from January 2020 to May 2023.

These included parts used in Orlan-10 drones, which the Russian army deploys in its war against Ukraine.  

The court noted that since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the defendant had attempted to disguise sales to Russian companies by drawing up invoices and shipping documents for destinations like Hong Kong and Turkiye. Announcing the verdict, the court stated that it "took into account the criminal energy he expended - in particular in the form of circumventing the sanctions after February 2022 - as well as the long period of the transactions and their considerable scope".

The verdict also says that the defendant confessed to the crime and expressed remorse. His 54-year-old business partner received a shorter suspended sentence.

Reuters has previously reported that HT Rus, a logistics company which belongs to the German-registered freight carrier Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, has helped Russian manufacturers evade sanctions. Vladimir Likhutin, an entrepreneur of Russian origin, recently became the first Czech resident to be officially prosecuted for violating anti-Russian sanctions. It was also reported that the Dutch company Dieseko paid EUR1.78 million in fines to the Netherlands as part of an out-of-court settlement after its role in the construction of the Kerch Bridge in Russian-occupied Crimea came to light.

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