According to Russian import data for 2024–2025 analyzed by the Economic Security Council of Ukraine (ESCU), Mahr products worth about 2.2 million euros appear in 161 customs records, while Spinner equipment totaling nearly 6.8 million euros appears in 16 records.
The shipments included computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools, micrometers and optical measuring instruments. Deliveries of four electric motors from a Czech Siemens subsidiary were also recorded. The equipment was imported through companies in China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, India and other countries outside the European Union.
ESCU analysts also identified products from these German brands at the Russian industrial exhibition “Metalloobrabotka-2025,” held in Moscow in June.
“Russia has chosen German equipment for decades for its precision, which is critical to weapons production,” said Oleksandr Adamliuk, communications director at the Economic Security Council of Ukraine. Because of the potential military use, the European Union has banned the export of high-precision equipment to Russia. Nevertheless, the Kremlin continues to buy Western technologies through intermediaries, circumventing sanctions.
Mahr and Spinner called claims about the import of their products into Russia “disinformation” and said they were not present at the Metalloobrabotka exhibition. Siemens said that, to the best of its knowledge, its products are not being supplied to Russia.
Mahr is Europe’s largest manufacturer of measuring equipment. The company is headquartered in Goettingen, Germany. Its product range includes measuring systems as well as handheld measuring devices and tools.
Previously, the Economic Security Council of Ukraine identified products from 30 companies from Turkey, Taiwan, Italy, South Korea, Germany, Austria, France, Japan and the United States at the Metalloobrabotka-2025 exhibition in Russia.
NV has also reported that, to circumvent sanctions, an ally of Vladimir Putin decided to sell weapons for cryptocurrency.
In September 2023, Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention added the German high-precision machine tool manufacturer SPINNER to its list of international sponsors of the war.