The Maldives has emerged as an unexpected transit point for goods destined for Russia as western governments tighten sanctions on Moscow, according to an investigation that points to a growing network of intermediaries using the Indian Ocean archipelago to move restricted products.
An investigation by the Wall Street Journal published on Tuesday, based on documents, cargo records and interviews with western officials, found that Russia-linked logistics networks had used the Maldives to facilitate the movement of goods worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The reported shipments include products originating in the US, Europe and China that are routed through Malé before being transferred on to daily Aeroflot services to Moscow.
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“This shows there are effective channels that exist far outside of the usual suspects,” said Pavlo Shkurenko, a sanctions researcher at the Kyiv School of Economics Institute.
The reported trade route typically begins with goods sold by suppliers in western countries or China to buyers recorded in third countries.
The cargo is then transported by commercial aircraft to Malé, where it remains in the airport transit area rather than being formally imported into the Maldives.
According to the WSJ, local companies including Freight Care and Go Investment help coordinate the transfers through Velana International Airport.
Shipping records and western officials cited by the newspaper indicated that intermediaries assist with paperwork, coordinate cargo movements and arrange transfers between incoming flights and Aeroflot services bound for Moscow.
Once the shipments reach Malé, a new air waybill is reportedly issued for the onward journey to Sheremetyevo International Airport.
The second document does not identify the original exporter and instead records a Russian importer as the recipient. The arrangement allows the goods to remain in transit, undergo limited customs scrutiny and avoid being formally registered as imports into the Maldives.
Hussain Waheed, managing director of Freight Care, confirmed to the WSJ that his company handled shipments transiting through Malé to Russia, but denied knowingly transporting goods that could be used to manufacture weapons.
“We do not support any war,” Waheed said.
An address associated with Go Invested reportedly led to a small electronics shop that was also registered to several other companies. The individual listed in corporate records as its managing director or board member declined to comment, according to the WSJ.
The products reportedly moving through the route include microchips, optical equipment, high-strength aerospace bolts and rivets, and aircraft components.
While many of the goods have potential civilian uses, they also have significant military applications.
In one example cited by the WSJ, equipment manufactured by a German company and sold to a buyer in Kyrgyzstan was transported from Düsseldorf to Malé in May 2024. The goods were subsequently loaded on to an Aeroflot flight to Moscow, with the second shipping document naming a Russian importer while omitting the original German supplier.
The reported route remains small compared with the wider network used to circumvent western restrictions on Russian imports.
The WSJ estimates that about $15bn of restricted goods enter Russia each year through larger intermediary markets, including China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Yet trade statistics point to a dramatic increase in commercial flows between Russia and the Maldives since the invasion of Ukraine.
Data gathered by US research company Import Genius showed Russian imports from the Maldives rising from less than $7mn in 2021 to more than $630mn in 2022, the year Moscow launched its full-scale invasion.
William George, research director at Import Genius, said the figures were likely to understate the true scale of trade because Russian authorities began censoring parts of the data in 2024.
The last publicly available figure was $160mn in 2024. Russian authorities subsequently blocked access to the import data entirely in early 2025, according to the WSJ.
The expansion in trade comes as the Maldives remains heavily dependent on tourism, with little domestic industry beyond the sector.
Moscow has become particularly important to the Maldivian economy because Russian visitors are the islands’ second-largest source of foreign tourists after Chinese nationals.
The growing economic relationship has increased the importance of trade and transport links with Russia for Malé, even as western governments seek to close routes that could be used to circumvent sanctions.
According to western officials cited by the WSJ, the US and EU member states have increased pressure on Maldivian authorities to shut down the transit route.
For the Maldives, the issue creates a delicate balance between maintaining lucrative economic ties with Russia and avoiding involvement in networks that could expose local companies and financial institutions to western sanctions.
For western governments, the emergence of Malé as a transit point illustrates the continuing adaptability of sanctions-evasion networks, which have increasingly shifted activity through smaller jurisdictions as restrictions have tightened around Russia’s traditional trading partners.
The challenge is compounded by the apparently simple logistics of the route: goods can remain technically in transit, change documentation in an international airport and then move onwards to Russia without being formally recorded as Maldivian imports.
That makes enforcement more difficult and highlights the extent to which Russia’s access to restricted technology depends not only on major trading powers but also on smaller financial and logistical hubs willing or able to facilitate the movement of goods.
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