German investigators have concluded a multi-year operation and dismantled a powerful international scheme that had for years been circumventing European sanctions and supplying Russia with dual-use technologies. This became known from materials released by the prosecutor’s office and Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND).
The organizer and key figure of the network turned out to be 39-year-old Russian businessman Nikita S. He was detained at a hotel in the city of Lübeck following four years of covert surveillance.
According to investigators, approximately 16,000 shipments of goods worth more than €30 million in total were funnelled into Russia through the network. The deliveries included high-tech equipment and components that can be used in the defense industry.
The primary base of the illicit operation was a trading company called Global Trade, registered in Lübeck. Prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the firm had conducted legitimate trade with Russian partners. However, following the tightening of sanctions in the spring of 2022, Nikita S. took over the company, and Global Trade effectively became a European procurement arm of the Russian military-industrial complex.
German law enforcement established that the network made extensive use of complex schemes involving shell companies, the relabelling of goods, and intermediaries in third countries to conceal the ultimate recipient in Russia.
The investigation, in which both the BND and the prosecutor’s office participated, gathered evidence of prolonged and systematic activity aimed at circumventing EU export controls. The detention of Nikita S. in Lübeck marked the final step of the operation.
Investigative actions are currently ongoing with respect to other possible members of the network, both within Germany and abroad.