Germany Raid on suspected procurement network for Russia
Five suspected members of a procurement network for Russian industry have been arrested in Germany.
02.02.2026, 11:43
SDA
Among other things, they are alleged to have procured goods via a front company and exported them to Russia in order to circumvent European Union embargo regulations. The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, Germany's highest prosecuting authority, had the men arrested this morning in the northern German city of Lübeck and the surrounding area and had buildings searched in several federal states.
The suspects are accused of being members of a criminal organization and, as such, of violating the Foreign Trade and Payments Act on a commercial and gang basis. The main suspect is a German-Russian who is alleged to be the sole shareholder and managing director of a company in Lübeck, which he and the co-defendants are said to have used to procure and export the goods.
Were Russian state agencies behind this?
To conceal the deliveries of goods, at least one other fictitious company in Lübeck and several fictitious customers were involved in the transactions. "Russian state agencies were presumably behind the procurement network," according to the federal prosecutor's office.
A total of 24 listed arms companies from Russia were supplied in this way, according to a statement from the authorities in Karlsruhe. This involves around 16,000 deliveries to Russia with a total value of 30 million euros. The proceedings were conducted in cooperation with the Federal Intelligence Service. The police investigations are being conducted by the Customs Criminal Investigation Office.
Searches also carried out in Frankfurt, Nuremberg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Officers from the Customs Criminal Investigation Office arrested four suspects in Lübeck on Monday morning and a fifth in the nearby district of Herzogtum Lauenburg (Schleswig-Holstein). Searches were carried out there as well as in Frankfurt am Main, Nuremberg, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and in the Schleswig-Holstein district of Ostholstein.
The suspects are to be brought before the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe on Tuesday, who will issue the arrest warrants and decide on their pre-trial detention.
Circumventing EU embargoes
Export restrictions are an elementary component of the sanctions with which the EU is reacting to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. They stipulate that European companies are no longer allowed to sell certain products to Russia. In addition to traditional military equipment, this primarily affects goods that can be used for both civilian and military purposes, such as engines and software for drones or electronic components and optical components.
In addition, the export of equipment and technologies for the energy industry, maritime shipping and the aerospace industry is also prohibited. Wealthy Russians are also targeted by export bans on luxury goods such as certain expensive cars, watches and jewelry.
The punitive measures are intended to limit Russia's ability to wage war and, ideally, also encourage the economic elite to exert pressure on the Kremlin to end the war.
