Two Finns supplying Russia with missile tech worth tens of millions

Two Finnish citizens have sold Russia vast quantities of electronic components, including missile guidance technology, according to an investigation by Yle's MOT programme.

MOT found the shipments by poring over international customs data

No comparable export of components to Russia on this scale has previously been uncovered in Finland since sanctions were imposed. Even by international standards, the case is unusual.

Denis Emelianov, the Finn at the centre of the international network, was born in the Soviet Union and became a Finnish citizen in 2018. He lives in Luumäki in South Karelia.

On paper, Emelianov runs an online shop selling specialist knives, with premises in central Lappeenranta, but that's only part of the picture.

For years, his Hong Kong-registered company exported electronic components to Russia. But the business expanded dramatically soon after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In Russia, the components ended up with companies supplying the country's defence industry. MOT found that Emelianov's firm has stocked Russia with more than 20 million euros' worth of electronics that can be used extensively in Russian missiles, circumventing EU sanctions.

American authorities monitoring dual-use technology took notice. In the autumn of 2023, they blacklisted his Hong Kong-based company.

Since Russia cannot manufacture enough of these components domestically, it has built a procurement network spanning dozens of countries. The two Finns investigated by MOT have been part of this wider system.

Emelianov's Hong Kong company and another Finnish businessman's Serbian company have traded with Russia both independently and in cooperation with one another.

Ukraine says Russia targets civilian areas partly to spread fear and weaken Ukrainians' will to resist. According to the United Nations, at least 17,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine, including more than 800 children.

Companies around the world that supply Western technology for Russian weapons have, in their own way, helped make such attacks possible.

The two Finns examined by MOT have sold almost 30 million euros' worth of components to Russia. Only a handful of networks of comparable scale have been exposed elsewhere in the world.

The Finns' most important Russian partner is a company that sends components to a facility known as the Arzamas Instrument-Building Plant. The factory produces parts for Russia's cruise missiles that help keep them stable in flight and guide them towards their targets.

MOT is naming Emelianov because of his significant role in the network. When MOT reached Emelianov by phone, he denied violating sanctions or supplying components to companies serving Russia's military.

He later provided a more detailed statement through a Finnish lawyer. He said the products he supplied to Russia were intended solely for industrial use and that, to his knowledge, he had not knowingly violated EU sanctions.

MOT meanwhile found that Emelianov is a director of a company registered in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. That company, too, has exported technology to Russia.