Ukrainian police shut down Dutch supply chain exporting spare drone parts to Russia

Ukrainian police eliminated the supply channel of components for attack drones from the EU to Russia, the press service says.

During the pre-trial investigation, the police received two Iranian-made drones in good condition, which the Russians use to attack Ukrainian infrastructure.

Law enforcement officers identified a number of manufacturers of high-tech products, control units, and microcircuits from the EU and the US whose products were supplied to Russia for the production of attack drones in violation of established sanctions and restrictions.

All the information collected was forwarded to the competent law enforcement agencies of the EU countries through Ukraine's liaison officer in Europol.

"The Financial Crimes Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was the first to respond to this request, launching the international operation Drake based on the materials received," the press release said.

The operation involved a series of investigative and search operations in Ukraine and the Netherlands, which collected indisputable evidence against a Russian businessman who is a permanent resident of the Netherlands and has been supplying microcircuits for the needs of the armed forces.

The suspect used fictitious companies registered in the Maldives to disguise his illegal activities.

Based on the evidence, the Rotterdam court sentenced the defendant to a year and a half in prison and a fine of 200 thousand euros.

The scheme of smuggling American-made equipment was exposed by law enforcement agencies in the United States, Latvia, and Estonia.