Belarusian cousins convicted of supplying Russian weapons industry in Austria

Two Belarusian cousins were found guilty on August 12 by a Vienna court for supplying equipment to Russia's weapons industry, in breach of EU sanctions. The pair used an Austrian business and a network of shell companies to transport metalworking machines and tools to Belarus via countries like Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, South Korea, and Poland.

The illicit equipment was intended to manufacture missile and fighter jet engines for Rostec, a Russian state-owned conglomerate, according to Austria's Interior Ministry. Both defendants pleaded guilty at the Vienna Regional Court. The 28-year-old male, who was the director of the Vienna-based company, was sentenced to 21 months in prison, with 19 months suspended.

The 24-year-old female, who acted as the company's accountant, received a 15-month suspended sentence. Neither appealed the verdict. The case highlights the extent to which criminal networks evade sanctions. Austria's intelligence chief, Sylvia Mayer, emphasized this point in a press release. The main defendant, a Minsk native studying mechanical engineering, was arrested in Austria on May 13 and had 140,000 euros in seized property.

Both cousins admitted to their roles in the scheme, which began in 2022, and was allegedly orchestrated by their father and uncle for a Russian company. Rostec produces military hardware like the Pantsir air defense system, Kh-101 cruise missile, and Iskander ballistic missile, which have been used in strikes against civilians in Ukraine.