German munitions machine on its way to Russia right now – Trap Aggressor

Ukrainska Pravda
·4 min read
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The German-made Spinner machine for manufacturing Russian ammunition is now on its way from Türkiye to the Russian Federation.

Source: Trap Aggressor, a project by StateWatch analytical centre

Quote: "The enemy attacks Ukrainian cities and villages every day with missiles, drones, and shells. And it is these shells that the German company Spinner helps Russia produce," the report says.

Serov Mechanical Plant JSC, under sanctions since March 2023, is a Russian military industry company that manufactures artillery shells and casings for them. It is part of the Rostec, the state-run corporation.

Among other things, the plant manufactures casings for 152-mm shells for the Koalitsiya-SV self-propelled artillery system used in the war against Ukraine.

The Russian plant ordered the U5-630 model machine, which is used for high-precision processing of parts with a complex profile. In this case, it concerns components of tank shells used in the war against the Ukrainians.

"According to our data, on 30 August 2023, the unit was placed in a truck in Türkiye (one of Spinner's branches is located there) to be delivered to the Istanbul-Tuapse ferry crossing. The equipment is expected at the Russian plant by the end of September. The importer of the device is a Yumak Russian company", Trap Aggressor emphasises.

The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) also confirmed this information about the project. The NACP also sent an official letter directly to the Spinner manufacturer to inform them that the machine had actually been sold to the Russian military and would be used to manufacture ammunition.

"We have no doubt that this device is critical for Russian aggression in Ukraine. We call on our German and Türkiye’s partners to stop this delivery," said Ahiia Zahrebelska, the head of the NACP's department of minimising corruption risks in the sanctions policy.

Spinner Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik GmbH (head office in Munich, Germany) is a German manufacturer of high-precision machine tools with production facilities in Germany, Bulgaria and Türkiye. It has had a representative office in Moscow since 2011. Information about the Russian office can still be seen on the company's website.

Even after the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Spinner continues to cooperate with Russian companies that strengthen the military industry of the aggressor. And Serov Mechanical Plant JSC is not the only one.

In 2021, the Spinner enterprise supplied machine tools directly to the enterprise RT-Techpriemka (under sanctions in the USA, Switzerland and Ukraine), responsible for quality control and increasing the production efficiency of enterprises of the Rostec corporation.

Similarly, after the start of the full-scale invasion, in July and August 2022, among the importers of Spinner equipment was the Kristall, a Russian special design bureau (under sanctions in Ukraine), which produces components for Russian fighter jets.

Spinner Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik GmbH supplied machines for more than 1 million dollars. The machines were delivered twice from Germany and once from Türkiye.

On 12 December 2022 and 20 July 2023, Aviaavtomatika JSC Russian enterprise, which develops components for Su-35 fighter jets and is under sanctions of the EU, USA, Switzerland, Japan and Ukraine, published a notice on the federal Russian resource about the conclusion of leasing contracts for machines manufactured by Hermle (Germany) and Spinner (Germany). The end user remains unknown.

In 2023, the Spinner stopped supplying its goods directly to the enterprises of the Russian military industry and began to use intermediary companies and intermediary countries: Türkiye, UAE, China, Kyrgyzstan – "obviously, with the aim of hiding the end users and avoiding sanctions restrictions," Trap Aggressor suggests.

In 2023, the total amount of supplies of the Spinner equipment to the Russian Federation is already US$10.5 million, which is 6 times more than for 2021.

"We hope that later the delivery (of the U5-630 Spinner machine) will be stopped. At the same time, we continue to actively work to stop the practice of producing weapons that the Russians use to kill Ukrainians, on devices manufactured by the G7 countries," Ahiia Zahrebelska said.

Background:

  • The day before, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) included 14 Russian importers of machine tools made by the Spinner German in the list of candidates for sanctions.

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