MOSCOW, Russia: Despite stating in 2022 that it had suspended all business activities in Russia to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine “living under attack,” a Reuters report found that a senior manager of publicly-traded US technology company Extreme Networks did not stop doing business with Moscow.

While still working as Extreme’s manager for former Soviet republics, Sergey Gusakov created his own company in April 2022 to supply Russian clients with IT equipment made by Extreme’s competitor.

Reuters reported that IT equipment sold in Russia by Gusakov’s company, Vektor-T, was assembled in China and contains US microprocessors.

Microprocessors produced by US chip companies have banned sales of their products to Russia, but some have made their way to the country as parts of Chinese-made equipment, highlighting the limitation of US trade sanctions.

A Reuters investigation last year showed that voluntary export bans by tech companies, and broader Western sanctions adopted after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, have not stopped billions of dollars of computer and other electronic components from being sent into Russia through the networks of third-party suppliers.

An Extreme spokesperson, when asked about Gusakov’s side activities by Reuters, said that the matter was subject to an investigation by the company’s legal department and outside counsel.

However, Extreme declined to comment about Vektor-T’s operations, stating it was outside their control. The company also did not respond to questions about Gusakov’s current status.