A Brussels court has sentenced Viktor Labin, a dual citizen of Russia and Belgium and an operative of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, to five years in prison for illegally exporting dual-use goods and chemicals to Russia, Politico reported earlier today.
Prosecutors said Labin played a key role in sending more than 400 tons of cargo to Russia, including sensors that are used to detect explosions and chemicals such as yttrium oxide, which is used in high-tech manufacturing. The court ruled that the transport of aluminum oxide — the largest category of cargo by volume — was not a criminal offense, but nevertheless classified Labin’s overall conduct as a “political crime.” Investigators said Labin and a Brussels businessman falsified customs documents and routed shipments through companies in Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan as part of an effort to conceal their final destination.
Labin’s son, Ruslan Labin, whom prosecutors said acted as an intermediary, was sentenced in absentia to six years in prison, and the court ordered his immediate arrest. Viktor Labin’s lawyer, Stanislas Eskenazi, told Politico that the exported chemical itself was not prohibited and called the sentence unusually harsh, saying he believed that it was the result of his client’s Russian origin.
The Insider investigated Viktor Labin’s activities in early 2024 and found that he was a GRU officer who had settled in Brussels, home to the headquarters of the European Commission and NATO. Through his Belgian companies, Labin supplied Russia’s military-industrial complex with coordinate-measuring machines, which are essential for weapons production. His family avoided European sanctions despite openly supporting the war against Ukraine on social media. The prosecutor who handled the case said the investigation’s findings confirmed The Insider’s conclusions.
Labin was arrested in February 2026. Belgian police had searched his home in June 2025, after which he was taken into custody. The first hearing in the case was held on Feb. 26 of this year.
