Sunell's Ongoing Russia Marketing Of Military Applicable Products Risk Sanctions
While Sunell denied doing business in Russia since the 2014 Crimea invasion, this week, Sunell's official Russian distributor quoted us pricing for Sunell prices, and Sunell's Russian website showcased various military uses such as "control of the territory" and "detect people moving in smoke or dust cloud."
Sunells's CEO proclaimed "Salute to Russia and Putin" when Russia invaded Ukraine in the Winter of 2022.
In this report, we examine the Sunell products available in Russia, Sunell's denial, and the risk of US sanctions.
Executive Summary
Manufacturers who supply potential military technology like the Sunell radars, explosion-proof cameras, and thermal imagers in Russia face possible sanctions from countries including the EU, UK, and US, including SDN sanctions restricting access to financial services.
When IPVM called Sunell's "official distributor" Kontur-KSB, they offered to sell us these products. They are also available via numerous other Russian vendors and are listed on Sunell's own Russian subdomain and its now-deleted official distributor's website. Product descriptions note applications like:
- "Seeing through smoke or dust clouds to detect people moving."
- "Spot people hiding in the grass, bushes, and other objects."
- "Covert surveillance and control of the territory."
- "Early warning alerts when a target enters the protection zone, while simultaneously positioning the target, determining its distance, angle and speed."
While CEO Ann Wu told IPVM that Sunell "discontinued all business
Sunell Russian Sites Selling Radars, Explosion-Proof Cameras, Thermal Imagers
Two Russian websites branded as Sunell both feature products with military applications. One, Ru.sunellsecurity.com, is the Russian subdomain of Sunell's main website, while the other sunellsecurity.su is operated by Kontur-KSB, which became Sunell's official distributor in Russia in 2017.
Each has a variety of radar systems for sale:
Sunellsecurity.su noted that radars can issue:
an early warning when a target enters the protection zone, while at the same time positioning the target, determining its distance, angle and speed.
Also available were various explosion-proof cameras and thermal imagers featuring "deep learning-based video analysis":
Plus, several other thermal cameras
The thermal imagers page of Sunellsecurity.su says they can assist with "control of the territory," "detect people moving in smoke or dust cloud," and help facilitate "control of the territory." Thermal cameras, in particular, are useful on ships, drones, buildings, and tanks to detect enemy soldiers in conditions with poor visibility:
Sunellsecurity.su Taken Down, Ru.Sunellsecurity.com Still Live
Sunellsecurity.su has been down for "technical work" since April 26, 2024, one day after Sunell CEO Ann Wu responded to a request for comment from IPVM, but ru.sunellsecurity.com is still live.
Sunell Distributor Offers Camouflaged Cameras, Countering Drones (Now Removed)
On its own site, Moscow-based Kontur-KSB also listed a broad range of Sunell products as of April 25, 2024. But a search for Sunell products now returns no results.
'
In 2017, Sunell certified Kontur-KSB as its "official Distributor in Russia":
One of Sunell's two Russian websites, sunellsecurity.su, is registered to Kontur-KSB:
Kontur-KSB offers painting services for surveillance cameras, meant to "ensure ... inconspicuousness." For instance, they have painted Hikvision cameras a "rich emerald green color":
They also offer solutions for "Countering UAVs and drones":
Sunell Russia Sales Timeline
Procurement records are not readily available in Russia, and IPVM could not confirm who specifically is purchasing Sunell devices. However, on April 26, 2024, an IPVM employee called Kontur-KSB in Moscow offered to sell us Sunell-branded radars and cameras.
Several Sunell resources are dated after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Sunell touted the radars in a July 2022 press release - months after the invasion of Ukraine began. Sunellsecurity.ru was last updated in July of 2023 (prior to last week's takedown), and several releases on ru.sunellsecurity.com are dated to June 2023.
Sunell products are also listed on several third-party Russian sites, including GI Systems, DDos-Guard, and Jet-Video.
Sunell CEO Denies Russia Sales
IPVM reached out to Sunell CEO Ann Wu, who responded to our questions about sales in Russia in a series of long emails that include indicators of being generated primarily by ChatGPT.
She claimed Sunell "has discontinued all business activities in Russia, well in advance of recent geopolitical developments" and that Sunell's "radars, thermal cameras, or explosion proof cameras...are primarily designed for civilian applications."
She repeatedly refused to answer specifically when Sunell purportedly withdrew from Russia, but later clarified that the "recent geopolitical developments" were Russia's "annexation of Crimea and subsequent actions in Eastern Ukraine," which occurred in 2014.
Furthermore, Wu asserted sunellsecurity.ru was established by "Kontur-KSB, our former distributor, without our consent from the very beginning. Despite multiple communications directed at the distributor to deactivate the website, these were not effectively implemented."
Incongruously, Wu added that Sunell was "unaware of the site's ongoing activity until your recent inquiry prompted us to demand its immediate closure."
Wu also said Sunell pulled out of Russia given Sunell's "commitment to lawful and ethical business practices," but later clarified, "Our decision to cease operations in Russia was not a reflection on the general ethics of doing business in Russia."
Denies Distributor Offered Sunell to IPVM
Despite Kontur-KSB's claimed intransigence with Sunell, within hours of our phone call to the company, Wu said she obtained a detailed account, contradicting us:
Regarding the phone call reported to have occurred with someone from the sunellsecurity.ru website, we have thoroughly investigated the matter with Kontur-KSB According to their feedback, the conversation involved an anonymous individual inquiring about various security products. The representative provided general information applicable to all equipment listed on their site, including brands like AXIS, Hikvision, and Hiwatch, without specific endorsements or offers for Sunell products. No discussions about model specifics, prices, or stock availability occurred, contrary to what was suggested.
It is also critical to clarify that Sunell Technology has not had any business agreements with this distributor for a significant period. Their continued use of the Sunell brand and products without our authorization is against our company policies.
Due to these emails having several of the traits of LLM-generated prose, contradicting prior statements at several points, and the below email, we believe they were generated by a service like ChatGPT. Note the highlighted sections below emailed to us:
Cites Other Brands Listed in Russia
Sunell's CEO pointed IPVM to the below Russian sites offering other brands including Axis, Avigilon, Pelco, Hanwha, and Bosch, and asked, "What questions are you going to ask them?"
- https://www.ax-russia.ru/ip-
kamery/ - https://www.avigilon.com/ru/
security-cameras - https://www.xbook.ru/sistemy-
videonablyudeniya/videokamery/ ip-kamery/ulichnye-ip-kamery/ pelco/ - https://safetyarea.ru/news/
novye-kamery-hanwha-vision-s- iskusstvennym-intellektom/ - https://bosch-video-system.ru/
kupolnye-povorotnye- skorostnye-ip-kamery - https://videoglaz.ru/kupolnye-
ip-kamery/hanwha-wisenet
While IPVM has inquired with these companies, Axis, Motorola (Avigilon), and Hanwha clearly declared, at the start of the war in 2022, stopping sales in Russia. Bosch later joined them.
Sunell Partner Lists Sanctioned Bank
Sunell's official distributor Kontur-KSB listed its bank, PJSC Bank "FC Otkritie" under the "Contacts" section of sunellsecurity.su:
PJSC Bank "FC Otkritie" is sanctioned by the US Treasury Department:
US Sanctions Risks for Sunell
Sunell could face sanctions. For instance, Executive Order 13662 holds that any entity found to have "materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of" the Russian defense sector will be sanctioned and placed on the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC)'s specially designated nationals and blocked persons (SDN) list.
Selling cameras and radars with military applications in Russia may qualify as providing "goods or services to or in support of" the Russian defense sector.
Sunell's CEO herself, in one of her emails, spoke to this risk, saying, "Our decision to cease operations in Russia was not a reflection on the general ethics of doing business in Russia but was based strictly on the need to comply with international sanctions and regulations."
Update (May 7, 2024) - Avigilon, Axis, Bosch, Pelco, Hanwha Deny Russia Sales
IPVM received statements from each of the manufacturers Sunell's CEO referenced as having Russia listings, all of which denied any sales to Russia. All except Bosch specifically confirmed no relationship with the companies operating the sites she provided. Their statements are below. Update (May 8, 2024): Bosch clarified that its Russia "partnerships...have long been interrupted or are at a standstill."
Axis
Axis said it ceased exports in February 2022, and "suspended all remaining operations" by July, including terminating distributors contracts. Axis confirmed that "Teratek was a reseller (not a distributor)...we don't have any information about why they claim to still sell Axis."
Thank you for your inquiry. It's correct that we halted all our exports to Russia in February 2022, and we have since then suspended all remaining operations in the country (you can find more information about timeline and steps here), and that includes termination of all distributor contracts in Russia. We also use IP geo-blocking to prevent downloading or updating software for existing Axis products in Russia. For Axis distributors outside Russia, our contracts stipulate requirements to comply with applicable law and not export in violation of trade restrictions, embargoes or sanctions.
Teratek was a reseller (not a distributor) of Axis products in Russia from 2010 to 2022. As you may know, Axis go-to-market model means that we sell our products to distributors, that in turn sell to system integrators and resellers. It’s the latter category, which Teratek belonged to, that sells to end customers. As we have suspended all operations in Russia, and since Teratek is no longer an authorized partner, we don't have any information about why they claim to still sell Axis products or why they claim to be an authorized partner.
Bosch
Bosch said:
As a result of the sanctions, Bosch Building Technologies’ business to Russia has long been interrupted or is at a standstill. Since the cameras were subject to sanctions, we have not shipped cameras to Russia.
Bosch said they would follow up clarifying their relationship with the company portraying itself as an "Official Dealer of Bosch Security Systems." Update (May 8, 2024): Bosch amended its statement clarifying that its partnerships are also "at a standstill":
As a result of the sanctions, Bosch Building Technologies’ business and partnerships to Russia have long been interrupted or are at a standstill. Since the cameras were subject to sanctions, we have not shipped cameras to Russia.
Hanwha
Hanwha confirmed it ceased supplying products to Russia after the invasion, and the two companies Sunell's CEO linked to "have no business relationship with us."
We have not been supplying its products to Russia since the Russia-Ukraine war. The Russian companies in question are not our distributors but are understood to be local installers/dealers. They did not consult with us beforehand regarding introducing or listing our products on their online shopping malls...They have no business relationship with us
Motorola (Avigilon and Pelco)
Avigilon and Pelco owner Motorola Solutions confirmed it "suspended all product sales and shipments" to Russia. Motorola said its Russian language Avigilon page remains functional "to service our Russian-speaking customers around the world, including those in Ukraine." The site "is not an authorized [partner]" and Pelco devices listed "were designated end-of-life in 2016."
Motorola Solutions closed its operations in Russia in March 2022. We additionally suspended all product sales and shipments, as well as services, to Russia and Belarus in compliance with sanctions announced by the U.S. and other governments. The shipment and sale of products and services to these countries is not allowed from any of our sourcing locations.
Our reseller agreements require our channel partners to abide by all applicable export control laws and regulations. The legal entity behind the website you linked ("ИП Ковяров Алексей Александрович") is not an authorized Pelco channel partner. Cameras listed on the website were designated end-of-life in 2016, before the acquisition of Pelco by Motorola Solutions in 2020.
We continue to maintain an Avigilon web page in the Russian language to service our Russian-speaking customers around the world, including those in Ukraine and the Baltic states.
Motorola Solutions stands with Ukraine and our NATO allies. We continue to prioritize and expedite technology shipments and services to government and public safety organizations in Ukraine.