Austrian court convicts Belarusians over supplying Russian arms industry

VIENNA, Aug 12 - An Austrian court on Wednesday convicted two Belarusian cousins of violating export controls by supplying equipment to Russian companies that Austria's government says was used to make military items like engines for missiles and fighter jets.

The primary defendant, a 28-year-old man who has not been named, was the director of a Vienna-based firm that used a network of shell companies in third countries and faked end-user certificates to ship special metalworking tools and CNC machines, which can be used to make parts and tools, to Russia.

The other defendant was a 24-year-old woman who dealt with the company's accounts. Both were stakeholders in the company and pleaded guilty.

The man was handed a 21-month prison sentence, 19 of which were suspended, meaning he was released since he had been in custody since his arrest in May. The woman was given a 15-month suspended sentence. They declined to appeal against the ruling.

"I am truly sorry for the whole situation," the main defendant said. He and his cousin spoke briefly before declining to answer further questions.

He said he had acted at the instruction of his father and uncle, who both worked at an unspecified Russian company. The prosecution agreed he had not played a "leading" role in the scheme, which had been in place since 2022 and was recently exposed by the Austrian authorities.

Evidence seized during four raids in August last year indicated that industrial goods worth more than €3.3 million had been delivered to Russian arms manufacturers since 2022, the Austrian interior ministry said on Monday. REUTERS