Two German shipping companies are suspected of supplying raw materials to Crimea, bypassing EU sanctions, the Deutschlandfunk radio station reported on Friday, July 6.

According to the report, the companies Hansa Heavy Lift from Hamburg and Heinz Corleis KG from Stade (Lower Saxony) supplied titanium ore (ilmenite) to Russia, which was later found in Crimea.

The report notes that in November and December 2017, both companies delivered 35,000 tonnes of Norwegian ore to the port of Kavkaz in the Kerch Strait.

According to Deutschlandfunk, the ore was later reloaded onto the Russian ship Nefterudovoz-2, which headed to a port in Crimea.