Two businessmen from western Germany confessed in court on Wednesday to illegally exporting industrial equipment to Russia despite European Union sanctions imposed due to Moscow's war in Ukraine.
Prosecutors accuse the two German-Russian brothers, aged 34 and 39, of violating Germany's Foreign Trade and Payments Act in 65 cases through their engineering and industrial equipment company based in the town of Oelde.
According to the indictment, the company delivered machinery components worth more than €830,000 ($945,000) to Russia in 2023 and 2024, after the EU had further strengthened its economic sanctions.
More than a month after the trial opened at the Regional Court in Münster, the brothers gave extensive confessions following discussions between prosecutors and defence lawyers.
Under an agreement intended to avoid a lengthy and complex economic crimes trial, both men face a maximum prison sentence of four years and eight months. Their confessions were a condition of the arrangement.
"We knew what we were getting ourselves into," the younger brother admitted to the court.
The brothers said their father, who faces separate proceedings, had pushed them to continue the business despite the restrictions.
The father frequently stayed in his native Russia, while the sons organized shipments from Germany.
According to prosecutors, the machinery parts were initially shipped to shell companies in Kyrgyzstan and later in Turkey before being forwarded to Russia.
It was not immediately clear when the court would deliver its verdict.
