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Sweden’s intelligence service said on Monday that it suspected two people of skirting sanctions and exporting “advanced products” to Russia, with media reporting it was industrial products intended for Moscow’s military-industrial complex.
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The Swedish Security Service (Sapo) said in a statement the two suspects had been arrested last week and were both remanded in custody.
It added that several searches had been conducted in southern and western Sweden in connection with the arrests.
“The Security Service has carried out several operations and house searches and an extensive investigation is currently under way,” Sapo said in a statement.
According to court documents viewed by the AFP news agency, the suspected “aggravated sanctions violations” were believed to have occurred between June 2025 and May 2026.
Public broadcaster SVT reported that the suspected crimes concerned “industrial products,” where the end user was believed to be the “Russian military-industrial complex.”
“This type of crime often involves multiple stages and several intermediaries. The simple reason is that those involved are trying to conceal their involvement and reduce their traceability,” said Christoffer Wedelin, deputy head of operations at Sapo.
Prosecutor Carl Mellberg said in a separate statement last week that the investigation was in an “intensive phase” and that charges needed to be brought by 5 June.
The sanctions were introduced following Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Sapo noted in its statement that Swedish legislation had been tightened to criminalise “attempts, aiding and abetting, and incitement to sanctions violations.”
Additional sources • AFP
