The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office announced on Monday that five individuals had been arrested on suspicion of violating Russian export sanctions. The detentions were carried out pursuant to arrest warrants issued by the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice.
Among those taken into custody were a German‑Ukrainian, a German‑Russian, and two German nationals, all detained by officials of the Customs Criminal Investigation Department. A fourth suspect, also a German‑Russian, was held in a temporary pre‑trial arrest. The arrests took place in Lübeck and in the district of Herzogtum Lauenburg. At the same time authorities began searches in the same locations, in Frankfurt am Main, in the Nordwestmecklenburg district, in Nuremberg, and in the Ostholstein district. These measures target five additional suspects who remain at large.
According to the Karlsruhe agency, the detained individuals are believed to have operated as members of a criminal organization engaging in smuggling activities that breach the Foreign Trade Act. They are alleged to have secretly sourced goods for the Russian industry and exported them to Russia since the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Preliminary investigations suggest that the accused arranged around 16,000 shipments to Russia, with a combined value of at least 30 million euros. A financial freeze was imposed for this amount. The detained suspects are scheduled to be brought before the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice on Tuesday, where a decision on the arrest warrants will be made.