- Right under the noses of Polish officials, a network of companies is importing sanctioned goods into Russia. At its center is a firm based in Gdynia, a city on Poland’s Baltic coast.
- The key figure in the scheme is a politician from Putin’s United Russia party, who is also involved in training future conscripts for the Russian army in Kaliningrad.
- His company works with the state-owned Russian nuclear giant Rosatom, while his Polish partners openly boast about ties to a strategic Polish fuel company.
- Polish authorities appear unable—or unwilling—to address even this blatant case of sanctions violations.
Every day, Russia rains hundreds of deadly drones on Ukraine. Civilians, including children, are killed in the attacks. In response, the European Union imposes further sanctions on the Kremlin. In theory, those who continue to trade with Russia despite the bloody war should lose out and close their businesses. In practice, however, the most brazen are thriving in the new reality, officially serving customers in the EU while quietly fueling the Russian economy.
[…]
This story begins fifteen years ago in Kaliningrad. In 2010, Russian businessman Anton Osipenko founded OOO Consteel (“OOO” being “Ltd” in Russian). The company was involved in a wide range of industries, from trade and construction to logistics. He did not set it up alone: his partner was a Pole, Sebastian Borkowski. In that same year, a new Polish-Russian border crossing was opened in Grzechotki. Over the next 15 years, the Russian and Polish business grew into an international group of companies linked to the same people.
[…]
Shortly before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Osipenko’s Instagram posts stopped. He also stopped publicly mentioning his cooperation with Poles.
When, in the fall of 2022, the European Parliament approved the eighth package of sanctions—another attempt to restrict the access of Vladimir Putin’s regime to technology, goods, and money—a new website appeared online: Consteel Cargo Russia. What does it do? Its website leaves no doubt. In large Russian letters, the slogan reads: “We will deliver your cargo from Europe to Russia under sanctions.”
The offer is as precise as it is brazen:
“We pay through our companies in Europe—Russian data does not appear in the documentation, and European partners do not withdraw from cooperation,” the company boasts. And further: “We transport goods with Polish registration numbers avoiding delays for political reasons.” And: “We organize exports via Poland, Turkey, or Kazakhstan.”
[…]
When, in the fall of 2022, the European Parliament approved the eighth package of sanctions—another attempt to restrict the access of Vladimir Putin’s regime to technology, goods, and money—a new website appeared online: Consteel Cargo Russia. What does it do? Its website leaves no doubt. In large Russian letters, the slogan reads: “We will deliver your cargo from Europe to Russia under sanctions.”
[…]
Experts from the British think tank RUSI (Royal United Services Institute) explain that before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there were no provisions in Polish law providing for penalties for violating sanctions. The relevant law was passed in 2022 and has not been amended since. It was not until February 2025 that provisions were introduced providing for criminal liability for violations of sanctions in force at that time. This means that even if Consteel Electronics violated the law in 2024, there is a risk that it cannot be punished for this due to a lack of relevant criminal provisions related to the application of EU sanctions.
[…]
Should the [Polish] Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration take a closer look at the network of companies under the [sancions circumventing Polish] Consteel banner? Without a doubt. Their Russian partner Osipenko is not limited to business: in his spare time, he is involved in the patriotic military education of Russian youth. In Russia, this means activities in line with the Kremlin’s official propaganda. In 2012, Osipenko and two other Russians founded the Kaliningrad Regional Youth Organization “Association of Russian Martial Arts,” a project that the Russian regime supports financially.
[…]
Russia is preparing for a longer march forward where sanctions are concerned. As noted by T-Invariant (a Russian science website), in the coming academic year, the Higher School of Economics in Moscow will launch the country’s first master’s degree program dedicated to circumventing international sanctions.
Not really a surprise considering how almost nothing was done about Polish rolniks blocking both entrance and exit at Ukrainian border.
Many of these folks would really need a shift at our humanitarian aid warehouses, to look at stuff that goes to war, to read labels, to imagine how soon medics will be fighting for someone’s life with these supplies.