sanctioned equipment from the USA was installed in the Yekaterinburg office of the FSB – Kommersant

In March 2022, the Ural provider Convex installed equipment from the American company Cisco in the Yekaterinburg office of the FSB, which the United States prohibits from exporting to the Russian Federation, claims The New York Times with reference to leaked data from a Russian company and emails from Russian officials.

NYT claims that Convex purchased equipment from the website of Russian electronics supplier Nag, which in turn bought Cisco equipment from the Chinese market. According to the newspaper, the purchased equipment helps “classify and send data to authorities.” The article also states that Convex engineers installed Cisco equipment in the Yekaterinburg offices of the Federal Security Service.

The publication, citing the leak, claims that the Russian leadership uses intermediaries in China, Morocco and Turkey to purchase sanctioned Western electronics. According to the NYT, goods prohibited for export were purchased in Morocco and Turkey, and then reloaded onto ships bound for Russia. The newspaper, citing corporate data from Nag, reported that the company imported into Russia Cisco equipment worth almost $10 million and Nokia and Intel products worth about $1 million.

In particular, the newspaper stated, the services of intermediaries from Morocco were used by the electronics supplier Prosoft. NYT says the company provides biometric surveillance equipment and technology for heavy industry and critical infrastructure.

Erdni Kagaltynov