Swiss export ‘stealth’ textiles to Russia in spite of sanctions

A shipment of high-tech “stealth” textiles to Russia was approved after Switzerland extended measures to ensure its companies do not bypass international sanctions on military equipment to Russia and Ukraine.

Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs confirmed it had allowed the shipment, worth CHF90m (US$92.4m), to go through because it had been finalised before the cabinet issued broadened sanctions at the end of August 2014. News of the shipment was first reported by the SonntagsZeitung and Le Matin Dimanche newspapers.

The stealth textiles, which are designed to evade infrared and radar detection and have a range of military applications, amounted to the largest-ever Swiss shipment of military goods to Russia.

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