Poland detains German over Russia arms tech exports

A German man has been arrested in Poland for exporting dual-use technology to Russia that was then used for arms production, the Polish security service said on Wednesday.

The man was detained in Lubusz Province in western Poland and charged with “brokering and exporting dual-use goods to Russian territory,” the security service said in a statement.

Without giving details, the statement said that the man had traded in “specialist machines” which were “illegally sent to Russian military plants involved in weapons production”.

It said the man had admitted his guilt.

Europe and the US have been trying to crack down on companies sending dual-use technology to Russia through third countries to avoid sanctions.

Ukraine regularly says the missiles being fired by Russia contain parts produced in Western countries.

The United States this month unveiled a package of sanctions on Russian banks which it said “disrupts Russia’s attempts to make cross-border payments for dual-use goods and military materiel”.

AFP