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Germany raids company which secretly sent 20 machines to Russia for munitions production, despite Ukraine’s warnings
Some 140 German investigators have conducted large-scale raids at Spinner, a high-precision machine tool manufacturer suspected of knowingly supplying equipment to Russia’s military industry. Three individuals have already been charged with violating sanctions.
In 2023, Ukrainian anti-corruption bodies urged German authorities to halt exports of Spinner’s high-precision machines to Russia via Türkiye. One such CNC machine was reportedly produced for a Russian factory producing high-explosive fragmentation shells for use in Ukraine.
German law enforcement searched Spinner Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik GmbH’s offices in several German cities and abroad. Eight prosecutors were involved in the investigation.
According to the investigation, the company may have knowingly sold 20 machines to Russia for a total of €5.5 million, despite the sanctions.
Sanctions evasion is a criminal offense in the EU
Despite the company’s claims about “compliance systems” and “lack of knowledge” about the end user, investigators say otherwise. Sources indicate the deliveries may have gone through third countries, particularly Turkiye, Bloomberg reports.
“Sanctions enforcement must work like this — with documents, equipment seizures, and court proceedings,” experts say.
Circumventing sanctions is now a criminal offense in the EU, meaning those found guilty could face prison time, not just fines.