General – European Sanctions Enforcement

July 6, 2026July 6, 2026 by Mark Handley

Estonia – details of 5 criminal convictions for sanctions breaches

The Estonian case law website has made available a number of further judgments relating to convictions for sanctions offences:

Case 1. Judgment dated October 6, 2025

This case was the prosecution of Mati-Dmitri Terestal (see our earlier post). It was alleged that he, and another, had made economic resources and find available to a designated person who was the head of Yle1 (a Russian state-owned media outlet). It was alleged that Terestal continued to operate the media outlet after it had been closed, through a front entity and had continued to provide economic resources in the form of technical equipment, and other assets.

It was also alleged that by hiring staff for the company this was making economic resources available to Yle1, as was the creation of web domains.

The County Court had convicted Terestal in January 2025, and sentenced him to 2 years and 4 months, this was suspended for three and a half years. He was also fined €7882.92.

The District Court disagreed with the County Court on a number of issues (including whether hiring staff without more amounted to the making available of an economic resource, but upheld the conviction. The sentence was unchanged.

The decision includes a discussion of the characteristics of control for asset freeze purposes.

Case 2. Judgment dated January 21, 2026

The prosecution entered into an agreement with the defendants that was upheld by the court following guilty pleas by the defendants.

The defendants (a company and a director that company) had set out to create a fake network of transactions and sales in order to import bitumen from Russia in breach of the EU’s sanctions. The fake transactions involved front companies in a range of jurisdictions including Kazakhstan and Hong Kong. One member of staff (who was either not prosecuted or separately prosecuted) had the role of maintaining a watching brief on changes to the EU’s sanctions in order to develop changes to the methodology for masking the Russian imports.

The company, Keystone Shipping OÜ, was fined €250,000, ordered to pay costs of €61,928.18 and had bitumen valued at €179,200 confiscated.

Andrey Kolesnikov, the sole director of the company, was fined €32,110 and costs of €1,329.

Case 3. Judgment dated March 6, 2026

The case was an appeal to the District Court from a judgment of the County Court which had found two men guilty of attempting to export a BMW car to Russia in breach of the EU’s sanctions against the export of luxury goods. Vladimir Palamarchuk was fined €3000 and Igor Palamarchuk was fined €2000. In addition the car, valued at over €50,000, was confiscated as the proceeds of crime.

The appeal, which was largely based on whether the car exceeded the 50,000 threshold, was denied and the fines and confiscation upheld.

The judgment relied on the EU’s FAQs in relation to the process for determining the price of an exported good.

July 2, 2026July 2, 2026 by Mark Handley

Germany – mid trial guilty pleas for two charged with 65 equipment shipments to Russia

Further to our earlier post, mid trial two brothers have pleaded guilty to breaching the EU Russian sanctions as part of an agreement with the prosecution.

They were accused of shipping 65 consignments of engineering and industrial equipment to Russia valued at €830,000 between 2023 and 2024.

As part of the agreement both men have accepted that they face 4 year custodial sentences. The verdict of the court is awaited.

The father of the two men is being separately prosecuted.

June 29, 2026June 29, 2026 by Mark Handley

Moldova – raids on company exporting dual-use goods to Russian military

Moldova’s Information and Security Service and Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases, have conducted raids on the premises of Comelpro SRL.

The company is alleged to have exported technical equipment used in the propulsion systems of YAK-130 and SU-27 aircraft for the Russian military before sanctions were imposed, and then continued to do so by relabelling the exported products as “waste processing devices”, and declaring that the goods were being shipped to a front company in Russia.

The value of the exports is reported to be 21 million lei (approximately €1.03m).

June 23, 2026June 23, 2026 by Mark Handley

Lithuania – sanctions enforcement statistics and €6.2m in fines for 2025

Lithuania’s Financial Crimes Investigation Service has issued a summary of its work for 2025, as well as a more detailed report (see pages 45-46) that includes the following:

232 suspicious activity reports from financial institutions related to suspected breaches or circumvention of sanctions;
77 of these were reported to other competent bodies in Lithuania or in other EU member states;
45 inspections from the International Sanctions Implementation Commission;
€6,236,375.46m in fines for 2025 across 12 cases;
In addition:
- in 2025, 27 cases were dealt with administratively with fines in these minor cases totalling more than €32,150
- in 2024, 19 cases were dealt with administratively with fines totalling €28,000
- in 2023, 12 cases were dealt with administratively (the value of the fines is not given)

The report also notes that 1 of the cases related to public procurement, 1 to the failure to provide information, 5 to circumvention, and 20 to the use of a bank designated by the EU.

June 15, 2026June 15, 2026 by Mark Handley

Poland – sanctions enforcement statistics with nearly 2500 cases registered

A lengthy article in the Belarusian Investigative Center on alleged sanctions circumvention regarding Belarusian wood pellets, includes data obtained from the Polish Prosecutor’s office on sanctions enforcement:

187 criminal cases were pending as of mid-2026 for circumvention of sanctions against Belarus and Russia (see our earlier post from May 2026 where the figure was 191);
nearly 2,500 sanctions cases have been registered;
85% of these 2500 cases, or over 2100, concerned Belarus; and
At least 91 criminal proceedings were specifically related to wood-processing products.

June 15, 2026June 15, 2026 by Mark Handley

UK – seizure of shadow fleet tanker “Smyrtos”

On Sunday British armed forces boarded and detained the “shadow fleet” oil tanker Smyrtos.

While British forces have assisted other nations previously, this is the first time that the UK has detained a shadow fleet vessel.

The vessel was in international waters in the English Channel, and the press release refers to UNCLOS Article 110 as giving a power to exercise “a right of visit” where there are reasonable grounds to suspect the vessel is without nationality”.

The vessel is now anchored off the south coast of England.

BBC reporting notes that the vessel claims a Cameroon flag, and that it has changed its flag multiple times since it was designated by the UK in July 2025. The same reporting has added that a 38-year old Indian national has been arrested on suspicion of offences under the UK’s Russian sanctions.

Lloyd’s List, is reporting that Cameroon had previously expelled the Smyrtos from its registry.

Our European Vessel Seizure Tracker has been updated.

June 12, 2026June 12, 2026 by Mark Handley

Belgium – three convicted of Russian sanctions breaches

Reuters is reporting that three individuals have today been convicted of Russian sanctions offences.

The offending involved the shipment of goods for the Russian defence sector via third countries including Hong Kong and Kazakhstan. The goods are described as “sanctioned goods, including rare earths, an explosive detector and a defence-related machine”.

The first defendant, named in the reporting as Victor Labin, was given an €80,000 fine and a five year prison sentence, with one year of that suspended.

The second defendant, reported to be Ruslan Labin, and tried in absentia was sentenced to six years in jail and an €8,000 fine.

The third defendant, named only as P.I., was given a three year sentence, suspended for five years, and an €8,000 fine.

June 12, 2026June 12, 2026 by Mark Handley

UK – two convicted for tens of millions in prohibited arms sales

HM Revenue and Customs has issued a press release relating to yesterday’s conviction of David Greenhalgh and Christos Farmakis on multiple counts (nine and ten respectively) of unlawful exports of military hardware in breach of UK sanctions and arms embargos under the Export Control Order 2008.

Mr Farmakis was tried in absentia with HMRC stating that he is thought to currently be in Greece and that HMRC is “working with international partners to bring him to the UK to face justice”.

Sentencing is due to take place in July, with the judge reported as saying that Mr Greenhalgh should expect a lengthy custodial sentence.

The unlicensed sales and exports were to Sudan, South Sudan and Libya between 2009 and 2016 and were largely of ex-Soviet equipment including “ex-Soviet jets, surface-to-air missile systems, anti-tank missiles, thousands of assault rifles and other controlled goods”.

The transactions were conducted through Mr Greenhalgh’s companies and involved circuitous transport routes as well as faked end-user certificates.

June 10, 2026June 10, 2026 by Mark Handley

Poland – two charged with sanctioned exports of dual-use goods to Russia

Poland’s ABW (Agency for Internal Security) has issued a press release related to the charging of two individuals, Eduard K. and Krzysztof J., on suspicion of exporting dual use goods to Russia in breach of the EU’s sanctions.

The equipment was a CNC machine tool and a thermal chamber for metalworking. The equipment was purchased in Germany and transported to Poland before being shipped to Turkey for further export into Russia.

The goods were stopped from being exported and the two suspects have been detained since September last year.

The press release notes the availability of a sentence of not less than three years as well as confiscations.

June 8, 2026June 8, 2026 by Mark Handley

Latvia – trial begins in significant case for the EU’s Russian sanctions

Further to our earlier post, trial has begun today in Riga of Eduard Tsehoval, the former head of the property known as Moscow House, in Latvia.

The prosecution alleges that Moscow House was ultimately owned or controlled by designated persons, Moscow’s Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, or by President Putin in their respective official capacities.

It is alleged that Mr Tsehoval oversaw the continued collection of rent by Moscow House after the imposition of sanctions, thereby making funds available to designated persons.

If the prosecution is successful on the basis of the property being controlled by President Putin, this case could have significant ramifications in the way Russian state-owned property is treated under the EU’s Russian sanctions.