A verdict has been passed in Germany in a case involving the supply of electronic spare parts for Orlan-10 drones to Russia in violation of the EU embargo. A citizen of Germany and the Russian Federation received a prison sentence of six years and nine months in this case.
His common-law wife, who was also involved in the case, received a suspended sentence of one year and nine months for assisting in the commission of the crime. She also had German and Russian citizenship. The verdict was passed by one of the Higher Courts of Baden-Württemberg in Stuttgart and can still be appealed to the Supreme Court of Germany.
The judges concluded that the 59-year-old defendant supplied electronic components to the Russian company 54 times between 2020 and March 2023. The Russian national worked as a bus driver for 15 years and also traded in electronics. Through his company Industrial Components ICW in Heusweiler, he sold transistors and other spare parts in large quantities to Russian companies associated with the Russian defense industry. Many of the spare parts were used in the production of Orlan-10 drones used in the war against Ukraine.
The High Court in Stuttgart found that the former bus driver had “significant criminal energy”. After the outbreak of full-scale war in Ukraine, he moved on to conducting transactions with Russia through front companies in Hong Kong, China, the UAE and Turkey. Transformers, amplifiers and transistors were purchased in Germany, but forwarded to recipients with false addresses. This created the impression that some of them remained in Germany. However, the electronic components eventually ended up in St. Petersburg.
Together with his 54-year-old accomplice, the convicted man supplied Russia with about 120,000 parts for drones used in the war in Ukraine. In total, both earned about 900,000 euros from their business. The money was confiscated by a court decision.
An ethnic German with dual citizenship who had previously moved from Russia to Germany was arrested in March 2023 and has been in pretrial detention since then. His accomplice was also initially placed in pretrial detention, but was later released. Due to the great importance of the case, the investigation was conducted by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office of Germany, which drew up the indictment.
The defendants partially admitted their guilt, which shortened the time for hearing the testimony and was taken into account as a mitigating circumstance. The common-law wife and accomplice of the former bus driver and businessman received a suspended sentence, also taking into account her poor health. The convicted man had previously been politically active in the Left Party, which advocates ending the war through a truce and condemns the supply of weapons to Ukraine.
Photo: Donat Sorokin/TASS
Source: Radio Free Europe