ISW: Russia purchases aircraft equipment worth $500 mn, circumventing sanctions

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported on 7 May that Russia has purchased components for aviation equipment, including military, worth $500 million since 2022, circumventing sanctions. According to the ISW, the Russian manufacturer of military and civilian aircraft and a subsidiary of the Russian state defense conglomerate Rostec, Yakovlev (formerly Irkut), has circumvented international sanctions and has been procuring military equipment from abroad since 2022. The Russian publication The Moscow Times reported that Yakovlev, which produces Su-30 fighters and Yak-130 combat trainers, purchased military equipment for nearly $500 million. In particular, Russia sent Yak-130 aircraft to Iran in September 2023. The Moscow Times reported that Yakovlev primarily purchased components for radar equipment and programmable controllers for military aircraft. In addition to Yakovlev, Russian companies Mashinostroitelstvo and Automated Measurement Complexes purchased military equipment abroad in 2021-2023. Each company imported equipment worth $25 million. The EU Council has approved a law on minimum penalties for violating or circumventing EU sanctions. According to the law, certain actions aimed at evading sanctions will be considered criminal offenses in all member states. Such crimes may include assistance in circumventing the entry ban, trade-in-sanctioned goods, or prohibited financial activities. Other takeaways from the report:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin began his fifth term as Russian President on 7 May and stressed Russia's need for unchallenged autocratic rule while indirectly calling for victory in Ukraine.
• Belarus has announced a surprise nuclear readiness inspection likely as part of the Kremlin's re-intensified reflexive control campaign targeting Western decision-making.
• Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) reported on May 7 that it exposed a network of Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) operatives who were planning to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other high-ranking Ukrainian intelligence and military officials
• The Russian Prosecutor General's Office declared US non-governmental organization (NGO) Freedom House an "undesirable organization" on 7 May, likely as part of an ongoing effort to consolidate control over the domestic information space and further deprive Russians of access to civil society organizations and independent assessments of Russian civil and political rights.
• The Kremlin is working with occupation administrators to strengthen Russia's control over the child welfare system in occupied Ukraine.

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