Germany arrests businessman suspected of cooperating with Russia's arms manufacturers 

The German Prosecutor General's Office said that a citizen of the country was arrested on suspicion of signing contracts for allegedly supplying Russia with machines for the mass production of sniper rifles.

According to Gazeta.ru, Ulli S. was arrested by officers of the Stuttgart Customs Investigation Department when he arrived at Frankfurt airport on August 22. A warrant for the man's arrest was issued on June 15.

On August 10, the man was arrested in France and subsequently transferred to the Federal Republic of Germany as part of a criminal prosecution.

According to the Prosecutor General's Office, Ulli S. was the managing director of a company based in Baden-Württemberg for the production and trade of modern machine tools.

The German citizen signed contracts with a Russian arms manufacturer in the spring of 2015. In order to conceal his activities, Ulli S. used other companies he had established, as well as another Russian company.

According to the Prosecutor General's Office, machine tools were supplied to Russia using companies in Canada via Switzerland and, in one case, via Lithuania. The order volume for the sale of machine tools totalled about €2 million.

In addition, in early 2015, Ulli S., through his company, purchased four sniper rifles from a Russian arms manufacturer for test purposes for €22,000 and imported them to the FRG, and to conceal the conclusion of the contract, which was subject to the embargo, the entrepreneur dated the purchase agreement to 2014.

The statement from the German Prosecutor General's Office added that after Crimea's annexation to Russia in 2014, the European Union imposed broad trade restrictions that included a ban on dual-use exports and imports.