Russia Using Phantom Companies in Uzbekistan to Bypass Global Sanctions

According to the National Resistance Center (NRC), Russia plans to set up front companies in Uzbekistan to purchase electronics for its UAVs (drones) to circumvent the sanctions with cooperation in transportation having already been officially announced.

On Dec. 26, Putin discussed the terms of cooperation with the top military and political leadership of Uzbekistan during the meeting of the leaders of the CIS countries. The talks resulted in preliminary agreements on the creation of a number of front companies in Uzbekistan funded by the Kremlin.

In addition, Moscow plans to establish enterprises for the assembly of UAVs, using foreign electronic components, before transporting them to a number of Russian defense enterprises including the Kazan Elektropribor Plant, Elekon Plant, Stella-K, and others.

According to the NRC, Moscow is also planning to buy ammunition stocks for Soviet-era weapons from Uzbekistan.

Earlier, NRC reported that Russia brought more than 100,000 migrants from Central Asia to the occupied Ukrainian territories in an attempt to change the demographic composition of the population in the temporarily occupied territories.

Most of the migrants work in construction, but in the future, Russia plans to mobilize them into the military to support the war in Ukraine in exchange for citizenship.