Slovakia and Hungary “in Moscow’s game”: how NATO partners can help Russia circumvent sanctions

A leak from a Russian defense corporation has emerged online, suggesting that Russia is investigating the activities of Slovakia’s state-owned LOTN, which is involved in NATO projects. Following a request from an Indian attaché, Moscow is likely seeking information about potential vulnerabilities in Slovakia’s defense contracting system, raising concerns about the security of data for NATO member states.

This is reported by InformNapalm .

The intelligence community has released another piece of classified information obtained as part of the OpsHackRussia’sDay (OHRD) special operation. This time, the public is presented with an internal letter from the Russian enterprise “National Helicopter Center named after M.L. Mil and N.I. Kamov” – a subsidiary of the Russian Helicopters holding company.

The content of the letter indicates communication between Moscow and the Indian military attaché to the Russian Federation, Sunil Kumar, who expressed interest in the activities of the Slovak company LOTN (Letecké Opravovne Trenčín). This state-owned enterprise is subordinate to the Slovak Ministry of Defense and specializes in the repair and modernization of military helicopters, including Soviet and Russian-made ones.

According to the documents, the following is known:

• LOTN has EASA Part-145 and NATO AQAP approvals, and from 2025, a partnership with the Norwegian Kongsberg AMS for servicing F-16 aircraft;
• Therefore, the participation of this company in servicing Soviet helicopters may be of interest to Moscow, especially in the context of a joint fleet with India;
• The leaked letter is evidence that the Russian Federation is processing data about a Slovak contractor who is also involved in NATO defense projects.

Analysts suspect that Moscow may be trying to use cooperation with India as a channel to gather information about the structure and processes of companies working for the Alliance, as even partial use of data on repairs or standards of allies poses a potential security threat.

India is a major operator of Soviet/Russian aircraft, so its interest in companies like LOTN is entirely logical. However, it is concerning why Moscow is conducting documentation work on a third country that is a NATO member and has strategic partnerships in the West.

The leak could be a “wake-up call” for NATO allies and indicates active Russian intelligence in the defense environment, even indirectly – through partner countries.

By the way, despite Western sanctions, Russia continues to receive components for combat drones from China – primarily engines, which are supplied disguised as refrigeration equipment.

It is known that Hungary and Serbia, in order to circumvent sanctions, plan to build an oil pipeline in 2027 that will allow the supply of Russian oil to Serbia.

Recall that despite numerous economic sanctions aimed at limiting Russia’s ability to wage war against Ukraine, the Kremlin is finding ways to circumvent these restrictions. One such way is to use agricultural fertilizers to produce explosives.

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