Two Belarusians were convicted in Austria for supplying machine tools to Russia's defense industry – Reuters
An Austrian court found two Belarusian citizens—a 28-year-old executive of a Vienna-based company and his 24-year-old sister, an accountant—guilty of violating export controls. The company used a network of shell companies in third countries and forged end-user certificates to supply Russia with CNC machine tools and specialized tools used in the production of engines for rockets and fighter jets.
The defendants pleaded guilty, stating that they had acted on the instructions of relatives who work for a Russian company. The man was sentenced to 21 months in prison (19 of which were suspended, allowing him to be released from custody after his time in pretrial detention was taken into account), while his sister received a 15-month suspended sentence.
This was reported by Reuters.
Austrian counterintelligence uncovered an international scheme used to supply equipment for the production of cruise missile engines and fighter jets to Russia, circumventing EU sanctions.
The U.S. Senate approved a sweeping bill imposing new sanctions against Russia and Iran. The bill passed with 68 votes in favor and nine against, and will now be considered by the U.S. House of Representatives.
