Two German companies supply components for “shaheds” assembled in Russia, says in the investigation “Investigations.Info”.
At the beginning of this year, hackers hacked the email servers of the Iranian company IRGC Sahara Thunder, obtaining an array of data about the production of Shahed-136 attack drones for the Russian Federation. The documents contained data on the production of “martyrs” in the free economic zone “Alabuga”, located in Russian Tatarstan.
From the leak, it is clear that the Russians in correspondence and other documents called drones “motor boats” and “explosives” ; “bumpers”. Thus, Shahed-136, which in Russia is labeled as “Geran-2”, according to the documents passes as a Dolphin 632 motor boat.
To produce drones, the Russians needed epoxy resin — It is impossible to dissolve or melt a frozen compound, so it is used in aircraft construction. Epoxy resin in «Alabuga» was supplied by the Russian company Composite-Izdeliya, which, according to customs data, purchased the material from two German companies. R&G Faserverbundwerkstoffe and Goettle Advanced Products GmbH & Co.Kg.
Journalists note that they supplied epoxy resin to Russia already at the height of the war. in 2022 and 2023. Moreover, it was difficult not to notice that “Composite-Products” was part of a holding that has always worked closely with the Russian military-industrial complex, indicates Investigative.Info.
In addition, journalists found out that Goettle Advanced Products GmbH & Co.Kg. trades almost exclusively with Russia. Its director Jürgen Gottle — local MP for the political party Freie W'hler K'nigsbrunn (“Free Voters of Königsbrunn”), member of the local building committee, association of sewerage, entertainment and sports facilities, and is also a member of the traffic monitoring commission.< /p>
The Freie Wähler party declares its support for Ukraine, but at the same time opposes “certain sanctions.” against Russia “given the energy crisis” and calls for a “ceasefire.” In addition, the party considers Ukraine's desire to win this war to be naive.
Another German company featured in the investigation, — R&G Faserverbundwerkstoffe — in 2023, it probably supplied almost 8.5 thousand kilograms of epoxy resin for an amount of about 80 thousand dollars. It is possible to make 337 drones from it, because one drone, according to the Alabuga leak, requires 25 kilograms of this substance.
The same company supplied epoxy resin to Ukrainian drone manufacturers. At the same time, R&G Faserverbundwerkstoffe responded that this was the first time they had seen such a Russian company.
Goettle Advanced Products Gmbh & Co.Kg., which initially promised to respond to the journalists’ request, as of June 18, did not do so.
Prepared by: Nina Petrovich