American company Extreme Networks sold components and software for Russian missiles and warships

The Reuters news outlet reports that the American technology company Extreme Networks sold software and components to the Russian factory Avangard.

Here's What We Know

Avangard came under sanctions in 2014 after the Russian federation annexed Crimea. As a result, U.S. firms could not cooperate with the Russian company. Despite this, according to Reuters, Extreme Networks sold its products for four years (2017-2021), three years after the sanctions were imposed.

Representatives of the company have already commented on the Reuters publication. According to them, they did not know that the final recipient of the products was a Russian manufacturer under sanctions. Extreme Networks added that the transactions took place through distributor RRC. Its parent company is registered in Cyprus and is called BD Enterprise Networking.

The Avangard plant is known for the production of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems. At the same time, Reuters reports that software and high-speed switches were used for Russian missiles and warships.

This situation shows us two things. First, the Russian military industry is dependent on foreign components. Second, sanctions and export restrictions cannot completely rule out Western components from reaching Russian defense companies.

Source: Reuters