While checking Tyumen customs’ compliance with the current legislation, Ural Federal District’s public prosecution authorities dealing in transport-related issues revealed that 201 TGM-4 track-laying vehicles from Ukraine went through the customs clearance between March 2004 and December 2007. The vehicles had the Russian Federation Ministry of Defense’s permits. The spokesperson for the public prosecution authorities reports the permits said that the vehicles should not be classed as military goods, as they had been subject to demilitarization and were fit for civilian use.

‘We requested the help of Privolzhsko-Uralskiy military district to see if these permits were forged, and further investigation proved that they were. We sent all the papers needed to handle the issue in accordance with Article 144.145 of the Russian Federation Code of Penal Procedure to Tyumen customs,’ the spokesperson notes.

Five criminal suits related to charges of illegal transfer of military equipment across the state border were initiated on June 9, 2008.