Russia Is Using a Maldives Airport to Circumvent Sanctions — WSJ
The Russians have turned the international airport in Malé, the capital of the Maldives, into one of the supply channels for goods subject to Western sanctions into Russia. We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of products.
According to The Wall Street Journal, aircraft parts, electronic components, and other dual-use goods regularly pass through the airport. Once in Russia, some of these goods can be used in both civilian and military applications.
The scheme operates through local intermediaries linked to Russian logistics companies. They help process shipments arriving from the U.S., Europe, and China, after which the goods are loaded onto Aeroflot flights bound for Moscow.
In some cases, the imported products end up with Russian companies subject to sanctions. According to the publication, these include S7 Airlines and its maintenance subsidiaries, which are having difficulty procuring aircraft parts.
The scale of the Maldives route is smaller than the main channels for circumventing sanctions via China, Turkey, and the UAE. At the same time, its existence demonstrates just how extensive the system for supplying sanctioned goods to Russia has become.
The Maldivian government and the airport operator, Maldives Airports Company, did not respond to the WSJ’s inquiries regarding this information.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
The U.S. House of Representatives did not include on its agenda a bill by the late Senator Lindsey Graham to increase sanctions pressure on Russia.
On September 2, EU ambassadors will consider new sanctions against 27 individuals and organizations linked to the forced removal and ideological indoctrination of Ukrainian children in Russia. They aim to finalize the decision ahead of an international conference of the Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, which will take place in Toronto in September.
