Thales target of Kiev. An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Twitter on Friday, April 22, accused French defense equipment group Thales of evading sanctions and selling equipment to Russia in 2015 that is used in Ukraine to kill civilians.
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These allegations follow those of the online media Disclose in mid-March, according to which France supplied military equipment, including thermal cameras, to Russia between 2015 and 2020, i.e. after the European sanctions following the annexation of Crimea by Moscow.
mikhailo Podolyak, the president’s adviser, relays the video of a Ukrainian blogger analyzing the damage caused to a car in which the body of a murdered woman was found in Boutcha, near Kiev. “How could poorly trained Russian soldiers shoot so accurately with old post-Soviet equipment?”he wonders.
According to him, the Russian armored vehicles are equipped “fire control systems that allow them to fire with great precision regardless of the weather, wind or even time of day. Components and technology sold to the Russian Federation by the French company Thales”†
A tiny car from the French brand. A family tried to escape, but was murdered by assassins. Killed, as has now been proven, with French weapons sold in 2015 to evade sanctions. Anyone trying to make amends must see the result of their actions. pic.twitter.com/adlHG4Cv2C
— ихайло одоляк (@Podolyak_M) Apr 22, 2022
The blogger then shows a thermal camera, which he says was found in an abandoned Russian tank. The Thales logo is visible there, accompanied by the date 06/16 and the words “made in Russia”. “It was assembled under license in Russia”accuses the blogger. “This is just one of many schemes that allow French companies to circumvent the embargo”he believes.
Asked by AFP, the group denied: “Thales has always strictly adhered to French and international regulations, including with regard to the application of the 2014 European sanctions against Russia”† “No defense equipment export contract has been signed with Russia since 2014 and no deliveries have been made to Russia since the start of the conflict in Ukraine”the group said. “Any information to the contrary is false and therefore misleading”, he added. Thales also claimed to have decided to cease operations in Russia.
