According to a Newsweek investigation, Russia has been able to significantly ramp up its production of military equipment despite US and allies sanctions sanctions. The equipment includes 1,500 tanks and 22,000 drones, over 2,200 armored combat vehicles, 1,400 rocket and artillery vehicles and more than 12,000 automobile vehicles, with 1,400 of them being armored,rocket launchers, artillery and advanced missile systems like the Iskander short-range ballistic missile, the Pantsir medium-range surface-to-air missile system, and the Kinzhal missile.

Sanctions issuedby Western nations, led by the U.S. and its allies, targeted key sectors of the Russian economy. The U.S., along with 37 other countries, enacted comprehensive export controls on Russia from February 2022. Russia has effectively circumvented most of the restrictions.

Russia has also turned to nations like Iran and North Korea, which operate outside the international economic system, for supplies.

In response, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN) and the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security have taken measures to identify and disrupt the supply chains. They published a list of high-priority items susceptible to diversion to Russia and Belarus, including integrated circuits, memory devices and radio navigational receivers, according to the Foreign Policy report, which are crucial for precision-guided weapons systems. Part of this effort includes reliance upon whistleblowers worldwide by FINCEN.

Jeffrey Newman Esq. represents whistleblowers worldwide under the SEC, CFTC and FINCEN whistleblower programs. Persons providing original information to these agencies through counsel, may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of a successful recovery made by the SEC, CFTC OR FINCEN and the names and identification of the whistleblowers are kept confidential. Attorney Newman can be reached at Jeff@Jeffnewmanlaw.com or at 617-823-3217