Five people have been arrested in Germany on suspicion of procuring industrial goods for Russia in contravention of EU sanctions, prosecutors said on Monday.
The suspects were taken into custody as part of nationwide raids targeting a wider network set up to allow Moscow to circumvent EU sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office said.
The five individuals are believed to have used a shell company to purchase industrial goods and export them to Russia, enabling them to bypass the trade restrictions.
Following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has imposed sweeping economic sanctions, including on trade, finance, energy, industry, transport and luxury goods, aiming to curb Russia’s ability to keep the war going.
However, Russia has found ways to circumvent the punitive measures, including by using shell companies and its shadow fleet, a network of tankers used to circumvent sanctions on oil sales.