On May 9, Russian troops paraded their tanks, armored vehicles and missiles on the Red Square, before the man who sent them to war UkrainePresident Vladimir Putin.
The Victory Day Procession in Moscow also presented, for the first time, the military drones which proved to be essential to Putin’s invasion. But Russian drones are not really Russian inside.
They are built from electronics purchased worldwide by a global supply network based on suppliers from several countries, including Canada.
Last week, World news has revealed The RCMP had arrested a Toronto businessman for allegedly exported limited goods to Russia in the months that launched his large -scale attack in 2022 against Ukraine.
The RCMP has now confirmed that Anton Trofimov had been placed in police custody on May 22. He was accused of having sold Moscow equipment that could be used to make weapons.
Arrest is the Firstly under the law on special economic measures (SEMA), who placed Export controls In Moscow in 2014 in response to Russian military intervention in Ukraine.
“We can confirm that this is the first prosecution under SEMA on the basis of Russia’s regulations,” said Nathalie Houle, spokesperson for Canada.
The accusations do not mention drones, but Trofimov and his companies were sanctioned by the United States In 2023 for having pretended to send microelectronics to the manufacturers of Russian military drones.
Global News could not reach Trofimov or his lawyer to comment. He was released on bail after posting a deposit of $ 5,000 and was to return to the Toronto court on June 30.
The RCMP said that it provided a press conference “in the earliest availability” to announce what it called “important file” but would not answer questions about its investigation.
“The Canada’s sanctions regime make an essential contribution to international stability, as trade in certain types of technology and equipment could present serious risks in international peace and world security,” the RCMP in a statement.
“Individuals and companies are responsible for ensuring that the final destination for all exports is not under these sanctions. The RCMP will continue to pursue individuals or groups trying to take advantage of illegal trade. ”
The Ukrainian Embassy in Ottawa said that it had welcomed Canada’s efforts to use sanctions to “limit Russia’s ability to feed its war machine”.
“The sanctions must not only be adopted, but rigorously implemented to remain an effective tool to dissuade the attack and additional atrocities,” the embassy said in a statement to Global News.
“All attempts to provide technologies that can be used in its illegal war against Ukraine must be welcomed with rapid and decisive consequences.”
“ Huge increase ” in drone attacks
Residents are cleaned after the attack on Russian rockets and drones against kyiv, Ukraine, August 30, 2023. (AP photo / Efrem Lukatsky).
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Russia has increased drone attacks against the main centers in recent weeks while US President Donald Trump has spoken of wanting to end the war but has not produced results.
“There has been a huge increase in attacks on Ukraine and its civilians and its cities. The majority of them are drones,” said Ihor Michalchyshyn, CEO of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.
A United Nations Commission reported on May 28 that drone attacks against civilians in southern Ukraine were widespread and systematic and qualified as crimes against humanity.
Michalchyshyn said it was “scandalous” that Canadian companies could be involved in the production of weapons that Russia has used against Ukrainian civilians.
“It is therefore a good signal to see that the RCMP and the Canadian authorities take it seriously because we think there is surely more to find.”
International sanctions closely restrict exports of military technologies to Russia, but Iran helped Moscow Drones produce and those slaughtered by Ukrainian forces are filled with Western components.
To assemble its drones, the Russian army would have relied on an international network that buys electronics and ships them to a factory in St. Petersburg.
Trofimov, 43, operates a handful of numbered companies recorded in Toronto and Hong Kong who were sanctioned On their alleged ties with the Russian military drone program.
His companies are accused of having provided electrical components used in the Orlan-10, a drone deployed in depth in Ukraine to identify targets for artillery and rocket strikes.
The accusations filed before the Ontario Court of Justice accused him of violation of sanctions from July 2022 – five months after Putin sent her armed forces to kyiv.
The alleged violations continued until December 2022 – the month Royal United Services Institute has published a report Name TroFimov as the best supplier of Russian drone parts.
“Part of the supply network”
Orlan Drones mounted on a truck for the victory day parade, Moscow, May 9, 2025.
The report allegedly alleged that one of the companies of Trofimov, Asia Pacific Links, was “by far the largest supplier” in SM-RIGIC, a Russian company sanctioned in 2016.
Sm-heogic imports materials for the Special Technology Center, which manufactures Orlan-10 and is closely linked to the Russian army, according to the report.
Trofimov’s Asia-Pacific represented a quarter of SM-TOGIC imports in 2022, and deliveries increased after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 in Russia, according to the report.
Citing commercial data, the report indicates that between June and August 2022, Asia-Pacific sent 800 “Quad-Bande cell modules controlled by export” to SMT-Oilogic.
These same parts are often used in unmanned air vehicles Orlan-10, or UAV, he said. “Other expeditions in 2022 included components that were found inside Orlan-10 drones.”
After the publication of the RUSI report, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress sent a letter to Trofimov to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Public Security in Ottawa.
The letter indicates that its actions seemed to counter Canada’s export controls and “it is also possible that this activity is a criminal offense, in that it seems to be a deliberate violation of Canadian sanctions.”
In May 2023, the United States sanctioned Trofimov and Asia-Pacific, alleging that it was “part of the supply network working to obtain technology for Orlan drones from Special Technology Center”.
The United States has said that Asia-Pacific was “the largest supplier of SM-HOGIC microelectronics and has exported millions of dollars of components within the framework of this supply network”.
A third company, 10219452 Canada Incorporated, was also sanctioned because it belonged to Trofimov. The company was created in 2017 and is still listed as “active” in Canadian government files.
In addition to two accusation of the escape of sanctions, Trofimov was knowingly accused of the crime product, which leads to a sentence of up to 10 years.
For its part, Ukraine also used drones to hit Moscow. On Sunday, Ukraine affirmed a Complex drone attack had damaged 41 strategic bombers in the air bases deep in Russia.