German court convicts German-Russian couple of supplying drone parts to Russia

A court in the German city of Stuttgart on July 17 convicted a couple, both German-Russian nationals, of supplying drone parts to Russia.

The 59-year-old man was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison, while his common-law wife received a suspended sentence of one year and nine months.

The court said that the two had sent around 120,000 spare parts and other components for Orlan-10 reconnaissance drones to Russia between 2020 and 2023 in violation of an EU embargo on the export of such goods.

The man sold the parts to Russia through front companies located around the world and reportedly earned more than 900,000 euros ($983,000) in the trade of sanctioned goods.  

Both partially admitted their guilt to the court.

Despite wide-reaching Western sanctions on the export of arms, military equipment, and dual-use technologies to Russia, determined individuals and companies have continued to circumvent the measures.

Dutch company fined 1.8 million euros for participation in Crimean Bridge construction

In the Netherlands, construction equipment supplier Dieseko Group B.V. was fined nearly 1.8 million euros ($1.9 million) for its involvement in the illegal construction of the Crimean bridge, violating international trade sanctions.

The Kyiv IndependentSonya Bandouil