According to the Russian TG channel SHOT, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has conducted a large scale raid, arresting dozens of suspected smugglers which aimed to deliver Russian aircraft parts to Ukraine and other Western countries.
According to Russian TG channel, SHOT, the Russian FSB has conducted a large-scale raid to arrest suspects in a smuggling ring aimed at delivering Russian aircraft parts to Ukraine and the West. pic.twitter.com/WtYJHuwyEa
— Tessaron News (@TessaronF) September 7, 2023
According to them: “More than 100 aircraft products were confiscated from members of the organized crime group. According to SHOT, among them were elements of the aviation auxiliary power unit, which feeds the aircraft’s instruments and allows you to start the main engines (pictured). The smugglers illegally exported all units of combat aircraft, including for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine…They had $117k, €59k and about ?5 million with them. All the defendants (the FSB does not specify their number) have already been arrested.”
This incident comes off the heels of a Russian Army Tactical Aviation pilot who defected to Ukraine with an intact Mi-8. While the Ukrainian government has been receiving a steady supply of fixed-wing and rotary-wing airframes from the West, the intelligence value behind receiving these parts is immense, as well as the practical benefits.
