Gelderland man accused of exporting microchips, drones to Russia, violating EU sanctions

Dmitri K., a 55-year-old man suspected of violating EU sanctions against Russia, supplied microchips to Russia on behalf of Russian companies, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) believes. The companies themselves placed the order and provided the financing, according to the OM.

“Technology was purchased on a large scale all over the world and sent via the Netherlands to Russia for technological and military reinforcement,” the public prosecutor said in the court in Rotterdam on Thursday. She mentioned microchips, conductors, and drones of the same type used by the Russian military.

K.’s lawyer argued that the drones did not reach their destination and accused the authorities of unjustly exuding the atmosphere of Russian spies.

Suspend Dmitri K. from Gelderland was arrested in September on suspicion of violating the trade restrictions imposed on Russia in February after it invaded Ukraine. He is also suspected of forgery. The man owns a company that trades in electronic goods and has both Dutch and Russian nationality. He claims that he was only an intermediary.

During the first public hearing in K.’s case, the court decided to release him from custody. He may await trial in freedom, provided he doe snot export technological goods and does not contact the persons named in the criminal file. The next introductory hearing in the case is on February 13.

The OM opposed the man’s release. According to the prosecutor, he founded a fictitious company in Crimea in 2017 with a fictional website and phone number to avoid sanctions imposed after Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula.

The OM found 3,000 photos on the suspect’s phone, which he also sent in chats. One of the many images shows Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy next to Hitler. Most of the others show military weapons, vehicles, images of bombardments, and images of a deceased Ukrainian soldier.

“The defendant thinks we are overreacting, but we do not want to close our eyes to the context,” said the prosecutor. “It is evident that high-tech goods play a major role in the war between Russia and Ukraine. They depend on the specialist foreign parts.”