The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced a new set of sanctions to diminish Russia’s ability to continue its aggression against Ukraine. Overall, OFAC has designated 25 individuals and 29 entities in its latest round of sanctions that would also help to disrupt Russia’s importation of critical technologies used in its war against Ukraine. Included in this list is Aeromotus, which OFAC describes as a “UAE-based authorized dealer” of tech giant DJI.
According to OFAC, Aeromotus has sent several shipments of DJI technology, including drones and robotics technology, to Russian importers since the beginning of Russia’s war in Ukraine. “UAVs of the brand shipped by Aeromotus to Russia have been documented in use by Russia’s military in its operations against Ukraine,” says OFAC.
As a result, Aeromotus has been designated pursuant to Executive Order 14024 for “operating or having operated in the technology and aerospace sectors of the Russian Federation economy.”
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DJI has responded to this development by clarifying that it had severed ties with Aeromotus late last year. The company says:
DJI has had no business relationship with the recently sanctioned Aeromotus since December 2022… Aeromotus is no longer an authorized dealer of DJI.
DJI further points out that it is the only drone company to have voluntarily suspended all sales to and business in both Russia and Ukraine on April 26, 2022. It also contractually forbids any sales by dealers to either country and for combat use.
“We have thorough protocols in place to ensure we do not violate the US or other jurisdiction’s sanctions implemented against third parties or territories,” DJI says in a statement. “DJI is committed to providing the best-in-class consumer and enterprise drone technology which is not designed or intended for military use. DJI will act on any information of authorized dealers violating our policy.”
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Though Aeromatus’ website continues to claim that it is an authorized dealer of DJI – and DJI, of course, cannot control what Aeromatus publishes online – it’s important to note that the drone maker does not have the Dubai-based company listed as an authorized dealer in the region.
The US Treasury’s beef with DJI anyway extends beyond the Russia-Ukraine war. It put the company on its Chinese Military-Industrial Complex list back in December 2021, alleging that the drone maker actively supported the biometric surveillance and tracking of ethnic and religious minorities in China, particularly the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang. The blacklist prohibited US-based persons from trading shares of the listed businesses, but the ban was largely symbolic as DJI is a privately held company.
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