Polish state firm sold parts used in Iranian “suicide drones” deployed by Russia in Ukraine

A Polish state-owned company sold parts that were used in Iran’s Shahed 136 “suicide drones”. Such drones are used by Russia in its war against Ukraine.

The case, which has been under investigation by Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) since 2022, was first reported yesterday by broadcaster Radio Zet. The report was later confirmed by the interior and defence ministers, who highlight the need to tighten oversight of the sanctions system.

Shahed drones, which operate in the Russian army under the name Geran-2, are manufactured by Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industries Corporation. They can carry a warhead with an explosive charge of up to 20 kilograms.

In 2022, Ukrainian soldiers found a part originating in Poland in a drone they had shot down. It was a fuel pump manufactured by WSK Poznań, a company owned by the state Industrial Development Agency (ARP), reported Radio Zet, citing sources.

The pump can be used for civilian purposes, for example in diesel engines. According to Radio Zet, WSK Poznań sold parts to Iran Motorsazan Company, which manufactures agricultural tractors. The fuel pumps later went to Iranian factories producing military drones.

The case came to the attention of the ABW, which then passed on the information to prosecutors.

In February 2023, the then CEO of WSK Poznań, who can be only named as Renata S. under Polish privacy law, was charged with foreign trade in goods, technologies and services of strategic importance for state security and the maintenance of international peace and security. If found guilty, she faces up to ten years in jail.

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WSK Poznań refused to answer Radio Zet’s questions regarding how many pumps were exported and whether they went directly to Iran Motorsazan Company, stating that this was a matter “covered by the secrecy of the investigation”.

When asked what measures were taken after the case was discovered, the company said that “each time it carefully checks each contractor, company and country to which it intends to sell its products. Each time, the country of destination, the company and the owners of the company are verified for sanctions”.

Renata S. was only removed from her position as CEO on 3 June this year. Meanwhile, a new board appointed at ARP after a change in its own CEO in April is planning to notify prosecutors of the previous management’s failure to take appropriate action, reports Radio Zet.

In response to yesterday’s report, interior minister Tomasz Siemoniak, who is also the government’s coordinator for the security services, called the case “absolutely appalling”.

“An investigation is underway into violations of arms export and technology export regulations,” said Siemoniak. He also emphasised that the government is working to tighten the sanctions system.

The defence minister, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, also confirmed that the ABW has been investigating the case since 2022 and that charges were brought in 2023.

He noted that the sale of components to a tractor company “on the surface seems like a fairly safe transaction, but you can see how sensitive you have to be about selling anything to countries that support Russia in its attacks on Ukraine and supply it with military equipment or components,” reported the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

“All such transactions must be under the control of the security services,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said. “The services are working in this regard, lessons have been learned from what happened in 2022.”

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland has been one of Kyiv’s strongest supporters and one of the most vocal proponents of introducing the broadest possible sanctions on Russia and its allies.

Data shows, however, that Polish exports to some Central Asian countries seen as a route to circumvent sanctions on Russia, such as Kyrgyzstan, have skyrocketed since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

Main image credit: Tasnim News Agency/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY 4.0)

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.