Russia does not make CNC machines, Yurchenko found out. After over a year of investigation, and many meetings, the EU and the Biden administration put CNC machines on the sanctions list. And these CNC machines are of a lower quality, bad precision, like a one-time razor,” she said. Russia also attempts to smuggle CNC machines in through Belarus and central Asia. The discovery launched Fink, 36, into a years-long obsession with unpicking Russia’s war economy.

Source: The Guardian February 17, 2026 06:09 UTC