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Finland continues to record attempts to transport goods subject to sanctions into Russia due to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, despite the border closure a year ago.
This was reported by Yle.
According to Finnish customs, over 900 pre-trial investigations have been initiated since 2022 regarding the illegal export of sanctioned goods. Previously, only a few cases were detected annually.
In 2024, the number of such violations decreased due to the closure of the Finnish-Russian border, but they still persist.
More than half of all violations are minor and are resolved through fines, avoiding court proceedings. These mainly involve private individuals crossing the border with small quantities of sanctioned goods, such as luxury items.
The remaining cases typically involve organized efforts to smuggle goods that could be used by the Russian military.
For example, in October 2024, Finnish customs began investigating a criminal scheme in which a company from eastern Finland transported drones, hydrophones, processors, and other electronics worth several hundred thousand euros to Russia.
In such schemes, sanctioned goods are declared as destined for Central Asia or the Balkans, while their true destination is Russia.
