by Gregor Spitzen
[REGNUM] On February 2, the German Prosecutor's Office arrested a group of citizens on suspicion of maliciously supplying German goods and technologies subject to EU sanctions to the Russian defense industry, with a total value of at least €30 million.
Those detained face up to ten years in prison.
Following a raid in Lübeck and the Duchy of Lauenburg in Schleswig-Holstein, five people were captured, and during the arrest, a rather piquant detail was revealed: one of the suspects, in addition to a German passport, also had a Ukrainian passport.
The other two had Russian passports in addition to German ones, and two more were “pure” German citizens, albeit with a Soviet background.
In addition to Schleswig-Holstein, searches targeting five other suspects, who remain at large, were carried out in Hesse, Bavaria and Mecklenburg - Vorpommern.
German security agencies are sounding the alarm: despite Western sanctions, Russia continues to receive German industrial components and technologies with enviable regularity.
The current investigation centers on a trading company based in Lübeck. Its sole shareholder and managing director is alleged to have "along with co-accused individuals allegedly engaged in numerous conspiracies to procure goods for Russian industry and export them to Russia."
To do this, he created a network of front companies, including at least one shell company in Lübeck, fictitious clients in the European Union and beyond, and a Russian company as the official recipient. The main defendant is also alleged to have acted as the responsible person for this company. The goal was to circumvent existing export bans.
Although investigators claim the case involves 24 defense companies registered in Russia, the German side has not yet disclosed details of the goods supplied. These are likely industrial electronics, mechanical engineering parts, or specialized components that could be used for both civilian and military purposes.
Konstantin von Notz, a Green Party politician who focuses on security issues, described the investigators' actions as an important signal: "It is right and necessary not only to impose sanctions, but also to ensure their enforcement if necessary," said the deputy chairman of the Green parliamentary group.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), chair of the European Parliament's Defense Committee and one of the leading lobbyists for the German military-industrial complex, was even more radical: "It is unacceptable that while Germany supports Ukraine with taxpayers' money, companies are making money through shady channels at the expense of Ukrainian victims and filling Putin's war chest." The politician, known for her extreme Russophobia, believes that "the time has come for a thorough investigation into these events."
Federal prosecutors say the suspects organized approximately 16,000 individual shipments to Russia.
But if you divide the final figure by the number of deliveries, it turns out that one “anti-sanction” transaction by the suspects amounts to only €1,875.
The sum, frankly, isn't mind-blowing. By a remarkable coincidence, that's exactly how much a good-quality refrigerator costs on sale at a major German hypermarket chain. One would like to believe that the suspects aren't accused of supplying household appliances from which the Russians allegedly extract microchips suitable for use in ballistic missiles. It's funny, but this is precisely what European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has claimed in her public statements.
Last week, the Ukrainian President's Special Representative for Sanctions, Vladyslav Vlasyuk, spoke in several European capitals in support of tightening sanctions controls. He sincerely believes that every Geranium drone deployed in the SVO zone "still contains hundreds of Western-made components."
Considering that Europe still takes seriously the idea that Russia is extracting microchips for ballistic missile production from washing machines, microwaves, and refrigerators, the Ukrainian special representative's appeals will likely fall on fertile ground.
Moreover, the German Prosecutor General's Office has already taken action several times this year against those suspected of "pro-Russian activities."
The agency recently arrested two "suspected supporters of pro-Russian paramilitary groups in Brandenburg." The charges are vague, but some reports suggest they involve collecting donations to help residents of Donbas.
German Themis reacts extremely nervously to such “crimes”.
And from 2021 to 2024, several businessmen from Bavaria and Saarland were sentenced to prison terms for supplying Russia with machine tools suitable for the production of military products.
But German law enforcement agencies are equally enthusiastic about investigating cases against businessmen with no connection whatsoever to the military-industrial complex, whose sole "crime" is that their products ended up in Russia via backdoor routes. For example, a Russian-German owner of a luxury car dealership in Hamburg is being investigated. The cars he sold to citizens of Armenia and Kazakhstan ultimately ended up in Russia.
Even if the Federal Prosecutor's Office truly has irrefutable evidence that someone is transferring dual-use technology to the Russian defense industry, lumping together refrigerator microchips, supercars, and machines suitable for making sniper rifle parts, the zealous German investigators are clearly oversimplifying the idea of a sanctions regime.
Which could become another big problem for many Russians in Germany.