From Canada to Russia viaItaly, to be precise by Gioia Tauro. The Italian authorities detected and blocked this about a month ago military components Made in America for Dual-use drones and destined to leave for Moscow. The material, worth tens of millions of euros, is now being confiscated.
Failed triangulation
The story, told by the Repubblica newspaper, is symbolic of the Russian Federation’s efforts to get its hands on drone technology. More specifically, the Kremlin’s goal appears not to have been to buy remote-controlled vehicles, but rather the systems that help control and power them. There is no point in asking about the ultimate benefit. there war in Ukraine it is still ongoing and despite an apparent calm, Russian forces continue to advance into the Donbass. Moscow wants to give Kyiv a final nudge, get its hands on the entire eastern quadrant and then, who knows, continue on the central streets or along the coastal strip of Ukraine.
For that, the Russian military needs quality, and drones represent ultimate convenience. Especially the US ones, as they are based on a complex technology, decidedly more advanced than the one that Russia uses for its flying aircraft. Because of this, the Russians would have tried to import American military components, using Italy as the second peak of one triangulation failed. In fact, the material did not leave the Italian borders and was blocked in Calabria by customs and the financial police.
Hunting drones
Apparently multiple times Container They were about to leave the Italian shores by sea. The game that has since arrived in Italy Canadawould have to leave the port Gioia Tauro to land in it Qatar. At least on paper, because it wasn’t at all clear that this was the cargo’s final destination. In other words, there was a risk that the material could end up in the hands of the Russian military stopover. The most accepted hypothesis? The boat carrying the valuable goods could have turned off the GPS tracker as soon as it left Italian shores and then put to sea Syria.
Let’s remember that Syria is not just an ally of Russia; it also houses a Russian military base, those of Tartus. Therefore, summarizing the points, it is not excluded that the ship in question aimed to arrive at the Syrian coast, unload the goods and leave Qatar “clean”. From Syria, it would have been a piece of cake for the Russians to transport the components to another location in a cargo plane. Beyond all hypotheses, the Italian finances and customs already blocked the cargo before departure.
The material confiscated
The public prosecutor’s office is now investigating international traffic, while the confiscated material, beyond its economic value, could have enabled Russia to acquire fundamental military technology. The issue is very delicate, to the point that a team is outfbi She would have flown to Italy immediately to investigate what happened.
The feeling is that Moscow has a huge need for drones. In the last few hours, the United States had sounded the alarm: US intelligence agencies said that theIran prepared to supply Russia with armed drones for use in Ukraine. Moscow’s response is dry: US claims that Russia is buying drones from Iran are “pure disinformation,” a source in Russia’s foreign ministry told Tass.