Finnish companies circumvent sanctions by supplying products for the military industry to Russia

About 20 logistics companies operate in Finland, through which products for the military-industrial complex are supplied to Russia. This is reported by the publication Yle, writes UNN.

Details

According to the newspaper, there are several companies in Finland run or owned by Russians that have been supplying high technology and other products to Russia. The clients of these companies have ties to the Russian military industry or special services, such as the FSB.

In particular, we are talking about 20 small logistics companies owned by immigrants from Russia.

According to Yle, these companies exported sensors, diesel engines, fuel pumps and transmission equipment, signal analysis devices, frequency synthesizers, printed circuit board accessories, optical devices and voltmeters, engine parts, bearings and valves to their customers.

Parts of the same product were found in destroyed Russian weapons and vehicles in Ukraine.

The publication adds that the outbreak of the war was good business for the companies they studied. The financial statements of the companies show that many of them have significantly increased their sales. Their total turnover more than doubled in 2022.

At least four of the companies covered by the publication are the subjects of criminal investigations.

In the fall of 2023, the US authorities added two Finnish companies to the sanctions list. According to the country's Ministry of Trade, the companies supplied components to Russia that were to be used to build unmanned aerial vehicles. The real customer of the products was the Russian military intelligence service.

According to US authorities, Finnish companies have exported drone cameras, optical filters, and lithium batteries to Russia. Russia uses civilian drones in Ukraine, for example, for reconnaissance.

A Frenchman living in Finland who owns these companies is now in custody. The Finnish police suspect him of violating sanctions.

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Director of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise Oleksandr Ruvin said that the Russians are looking for ways to hide the fact that they use foreign components in the weapons they use to attack Ukraine on a daily basis.

In particular, the name of the manufacturer or a number that can be used to identify it is erased. He added that foreign partners are constantly asking which countries the components are from in order to take appropriate measures.

"They take this painfully. They are interested in which company, whose production, when the component was produced, because in many cases the Russians erase the numbers, erase the manufacturers. And we have to use special methods that we have to conduct examinations," Ruvin said.