#sanctions-evasion

#sanctions-evasion

A former Russian diplomat linked to a sanctions-evasion scandal involving one of the FBI's top former counter-intelligence agents and a notorious Russian oligarch was sentenced to two months in jail on charges of lying to US law enforcement. Sergei Shestakov's sentencing closes a chapter in a case that both embarrassed the FBI and also shone a new spotlight on Oleg Deripaska, a Kremlin-connected billionaire who has long been on the FBI's radar screen.

The components found in downed Russian drones and cruise and ballistic missiles range from microcomputers and sensors to switching connectors and converters. Ukraine says they're coming from the US, UK, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, South Korea, Japan, China, and Taiwan. Some of these nations are among Kyiv's closest partners. Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said over 100,000 foreign-made parts were found among the 550 Russian drones and missiles used in a large-scale bombardment, underscoring the scale of the problem.

The captain of an oil tanker that authorities in France have detained off the country's Atlantic coast and that President Emmanuel Macron has linked to Russia will go on trial in February over the crew's alleged refusal to cooperate, a French prosecutor has said. Macron has alleged that the tanker belongs to Russia's shadow fleet of ageing tankers of uncertain ownership that are avoiding western sanctions over Moscow's war in Ukraine.

Gugnin allegedly facilitated over $530 million in transactions for Russian clients linked to sanctioned banks, employing Tether to circumvent US sanctions and export controls.