{"id":6239,"date":"2026-08-10T16:40:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T16:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/6239\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T16:40:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T16:40:09","slug":"austria-breaks-up-sanctions-evasion-scheme-supplying-russian-arms-industry-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/6239\/","title":{"rendered":"Austria Breaks up Sanctions-Evasion Scheme Supplying Russian Arms Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>VIENNA, Aug 10 (Reuters) &#8211; Austria has broken up \u2060a \u2060scheme in which a \u2060Vienna-based company supplied equipment used to make engines for \u200bRussian missiles and fighter jets, in breach of European Union sanctions, the interior ministry \u200csaid on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>The company falsified \u200cend-user certificates to supply the equipment under sanctions, including special metalworking \u2060tools and \u2060CNC machines, which can be used to make parts and \u200btools, the ministry said in a statement. It added that the 28-year-old Belarusian head of the company was arrested in May.<\/p>\n<p>The company, which the ministry did not \u200bname, concealed its shipments through a network of shell companies in Turkey, \u2060the \u2060United Arab Emirates, Hong \u2060Kong, Belarus, \u200bKyrgyzstan, South Korea, Poland and Lithuania, the ministry said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is unacceptable for high-precision \u200bEuropean technology to \u2060be diverted towards the production of cruise missiles and air-defence systems,&#8221; Austria&#8217;s junior minister in charge of intelligence, Joerg Leichtfried, said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We will continue to take decisive action &#8230; against those actors who attempt to circumvent legal bans on \u2060supporting the Russian arms industry.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The equipment was supplied to companies affiliated with \u2060Russian state industrial conglomerate Rostec, the ministry said. Investigators&#8217; latest findings indicate the goods were used to make military equipment, including engines for cruise missiles and fighter jets.<\/p>\n<p>The Russian embassy in Vienna declined to comment. Rostec did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>On the same day the chief suspect was arrested, authorities seized CNC machines and specialised tools worth about \u20ac140,000 ($162,000), the ministry said. The \u2060suspect, who was not named, remains in custody while the investigation continues.<\/p>\n<p>Evidence seized during four raids in August last year indicated that industrial goods worth more than \u20ac3.3 million had been delivered to Russian \u200barms manufacturers since 2022, the ministry added.<\/p>\n<p>(Reporting by \u200bFrancois Murphy. Editing by Mark Potter)<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.<\/p>\n<p>Photos You Should See: August 2026<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/august-07-pyss-y01.jpg\" alt=\"An attendee reacts to election results during a primary election night event for Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, at the Majestic Theatre in Detroit. (AP Photo\/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)\" class=\"Image__PictureImage-sc-412cjc-1 bBgODV Image-sc-412cjc-2 SlideshowEmbed__Picture-fkpjfn-0 kQDDcT bUlaJL\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VIENNA, Aug 10 (Reuters) &#8211; Austria has broken up \u2060a \u2060scheme in which a \u2060Vienna-based company supplied equipment&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6240,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3782,3781,1077,14,93,363,3780,1071,273,26,224],"class_list":["post-6239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-austria","tag-belarus","tag-collections-world","tag-defence-industry","tag-europe","tag-european-union","tag-international-trade","tag-reuters","tag-russia","tag-ukraine","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}