It is being reported that the Estonian authorities are investigating a large-scale scheme to export luxury cars to Russia in breach of the EU’s sanctions.
Two individuals and two companies are suspected of exporting 209 vehicles valued at €25 million.
So far one individual, an Estonian national, has been arrested and is in custody pending further investigations – the court having determined her to be a flight risk.
Further to our earlier post regarding his extradition from Italy to Estonia, it is now being reported that Ivan Anchevsky has been sentenced to 3 and a half years jail for prohibited exports of equipment to Russia.
The judgment remains subject to appeal.
The conviction relates to the shipping of equipment from Switzerland to Russia with assistance from Anchevsky and his companies Militec LLC and Militec Europe.
As part of the same trial Anchevsky was acquitted of charges of exporting dual use goods.
As of 14 October 2025, the Tax and Customs Board of Estonia has started to publish weekly summaries of its activity, including the enforcement of sanctions at the various customs points with Russia.
Based on these weekly summaries the identification of a sanctions breach by customs officials results in one of four outcomes: 1) the import/export is prevented without further actins being taken; 2) an investigation is commenced; 3) a criminal proceeding for a misdemeanour offence is started; or 4) an on-the-spot fine is issued.
Based on the weekly reports since mid October, the following enforcement actions in categories 1-3 can be identified:
The offending is dominated by the small-scale carriage of luxury goods and euro notes.
The weekly summaries that include sanctions enforcement can be found here:
In addition, back on 18 August 2025, the Tax and and Customs Board published a half-yearly sanctions enforcement update – not previously reflected here.
This identified the following enforcement statistics:
The website containing published judgments from the Estonian courts has published a number of judgments relating to convictions for sanctions offences.
1. Conviction of Adilov Mubariz on 23 July 2025
Decision: https://www.riigiteataja.ee/kohtulahendid/detailid.html?id=413740161
This individual was convicted of importing a few hundred Russian cigarettes into Estonia in breach of Article 3(i)(1) of EU Regulation 833/2014. This was a second offence.
The man was given a 3-month jail term, suspended for a 12-month probation period, and ordered to pay €798.42.
2. Conviction of Alus Grupp OÜ and Taras Potapov on 18 September 2025
Decision: https://www.riigiteataja.ee/kohtulahendid/detailid.html?id=419399125
Mr Popatov was convicted of aiding and abetting the provision of a service related to a prohibited strategic good, namely resonance testing machines used in the aviation and aerospace industries. These are dual use goods
The company Alus Grupp is a freight forwarder and Mr Popatov was one of its directors.
Another Estonian company and its director purchased the equipment from a supplier in Switzerland and sold them to Russian customers. The invoices showed that the intended ultimate customer was a Russian company. Alus Grupp and its director, being aware of the ultimate customer, on multiple occasions transported the goods to Kazakhstan. On other occasions an intermediary based in the UAE was inserted.
Mr Popatov was convicted. At the time of his conviction he had already served 5 months in jail. Pursuant to an agreement with the prosecution, the remainder of his 5-year sentence was suspended subject to a 5-year probation period. He was also ordered to pay a penalty of €2,215.
The company was also convicted and given a fine of €100,000 with a further €200,000 suspended for a 5-year probation period.
The judgment gives a detailed account of the exporting arrangements. It appears that other prosecutions of the actual exporting parties are ongoing.
3. Conviction of Anna Shmeljova on 14 October 2025
Decision: https://www.riigiteataja.ee/kohtulahendid/detailid.html?id=422536761
Ms Shmeljova was convicted of multiple offences including exporting luxury goods to Russia, namely clothing and hockey skates, and importing cigarettes.
She was ordered to pay €2,215, and given a five-month jail sentence suspended for a one year probation period.
4. Conviction of Marine Technics Baltia OÜ and Daniil Haitin on 5 November 2025
Decision: https://www.riigiteataja.ee/kohtulahendid/detailid.html?id=424933869
Mr Haitin was convicted of four offences and sentenced to 4 years and eleven months in jail. This sentence was suspended for a 5 year probation period. He was ordered to pay €2,215.
The company Marine Technics was convicted of two offences and ordered to pay €160,000, as well as €13,251.65.
The offences related to exports of gas generators, alternators, propulsion systems, thermal cameras and other equipment to Russia, including to military end-users such as Kalashnikov Concern, and the Russian Ministry of Defence.
False end-user certificates were prepared showing purported customers in Turkey.
The offending had taken place between 2017 and 2019.
The judgment notes that the court had prevented the merger or winding up of Marine Technics Baltia OÜ for the duration of the investigation in order to be able to secure a conviction and penalty.
The judgment gives a detailed account of the exporting arrangements.
A court in Estonia has remanded an individual, Oleg Bessedin, in custody for two months while he awaits trial.
The prosecution is for a number of offences including allegedly breaching prohibitions in relation to the dissemination and broadcast of content from designated Russian media outlets under the EU’s sanctions.
The man denies the charges, but has been remanded due to perceived fight risk.
It is being reported that the Estonian Prosecutor General’s Office has been investigating a bunkering company for alleged breaches of the EU’s sanctions in relation to Russian oil.
The report states that raids were conducted in 2023 on the company NT Bunkering, with evidence and property seized.
In response to a question from LRT, the Prosecutor General’s Office stated that a pre-trial investigation remained ongoing and could not otherwise comment.
The Tallin Circuit Court has denied an appeal from Svetlana Burtseva against a conviction for sanctions and treason offences.
As per our earlier post, Burtseva has been sentenced to 6 years in jail, of which 2 years were for the sanctions offence.
The sanctions offence was the making of economic resources available to a sanctioned person. Ms Burceva worked for Russian state media outlet RIA Rossiya Segodnya, the head of which is Dmitry Kiselyov who is sanctioned by the EU.
It has been reported (and here) that Ivan Dmitriev, an Estonian national has been convicted of a range of offences including breaches of sanctions and espionage on behalf of Russia’s FSB.
He was sentenced to four years and 11 months in jail.
The reports do not provide detail on the conduct constituting breaches of the EU’s Russian sanctions.
The US Department of Justice has issued a press release confirming that the Estonian authorities have transferred Estonian national Andrey Shevlyakov to US custody for extradition to the US to face 18 counts of supplying US goods and technology to Russia in breach of US sanctions.
It is being reported that Mr Shevlyakov was first detained in March 2023 as part of a joint investigation between US and Estonian authorities.
It is being reported that the Tartu Country Court yesterday convicted Erna Moisejeva of a range of offences including the multiple attempted exports of luxury goods to Russia n breach of the EU’s sanctions.
She was also convicted of espionage and supplying information to the FSB.
Moisejeva was sentenced to 3 years’ jail and ordered to pay court costs of €3140.
The judgment remains subject to appeal.
