Dutch court jails Russian engineer for 3 years over tech espionage linked to Moscow

On July 10, a court in Rotterdam sentenced a 43-year-old Russian national to three years in prison after finding him guilty of stealing trade secrets and sharing them with Russia, Bloomberg reported. After serving his sentence, he will be banned from entering the Netherlands for 20 years.

The man worked for several Dutch semiconductor companies — including ASML and NXP Semiconductors — between 2015 and 2024. According to the indictment, he transferred information to Russia about how to configure production lines for chip manufacturing. The defendant denied the charges, writes Dutch news agency ANP.

While Bloomberg did not name the individual, The Insider was previously able to identify him as Russian engineer German Aksyonov, who was arrested in December 2024. Aksyonov also worked at Mapper, a company that later went bankrupt and was acquired by ASML. The Pentagon reportedly pushed for the Western firm to complete the acquisition, fearing Mapper’s technology could fall into Russian or Chinese hands. Bloomberg noted that in 2023, ASML accused one of its Chinese employees of stealing chip-related data.

As The Insider previously reported, the Russian company LLC Mapper (ООО «Маппер»), a former subsidiary of the Dutch parent company, uses lithography equipment made by ASML to produce its microchips.

The Russia-based Mapper has not been affiliated with its Dutch parent company since 2018 and is now owned by Astrohn (Астрон), a company that produces drones and thermal imaging equipment, among other products.