WASHINGTON: American businesses are not permitted to do business with MMZ Avangard, a state-owned company that manufactures missiles for one of Russia’s most advanced weaponry, the S-400 air-defence system, since Russia took Crimea in 2014.In response to concerns from the West regarding the S-400, the US withdrew NATO member Turkey from a collaborative fighter jet programme in 2019 after Ankara received the Russian system.
According to emails and other business records viewed, Extreme Networks, a publicly traded American technology company, was providing MMZ Avangard with computer networking equipment for its office IT systems even while the United States was pursuing measures to stifle MMZ Avangard’s business.
According to information shared by the news organisation, Extreme stated that it thought equipment “may have” been sold to MMZ Avangard using a fictitious purchaser. Extreme asserted that it was not aware of the selling of the equipment.
It claimed that an intermediary in Russia was “implicated” in shipping its items to “threat actors” through a front company without offering any supporting evidence. Extreme stated that it will inform US authorities of its findings on these possible sales.
Ukraine has charged Russia of firing missiles built by MMZ Avangard on ground targets since the start of what Russia refers as its “special operation” on February 24. According to Ukrainian authorities, a convoy on the outskirts of the southern city of Zaporizhzhia was brutally attacked by MMZ Avangard missiles, resulting in the deaths of at least thirty civilians.
MMZ Avangard purchased Extreme equipment for its IT systems worth more than $500,000 between 2017 and 2021, according to the company records examined by Reuters and the people familiar with the situation. Software and high-speed switches, an essential part of business IT networks, were among the products offered.