Latvia sentences Azerbaijani national for selling Starlink terminals and weapons to Russia
A Latvian court has sentenced Azerbaijani national Ali Khalilov to 11 years for selling Starlink terminals and ‘other military equipment’ to the Russian army, in addition to helping Russia evade international sanctions.
Khalilov was sentenced by the Riga City Court on Monday, after Latvia’s State Security Service (VDD) launched a criminal case against him on 5 March 2025.
The court also ruled to place him under three years of probation and to deport him with a five-year entry ban.
Khalilov, who had been under VDD investigation since October 2024, was charged with ‘assisting a foreign state in an act directed against another state, namely, supporting Russia in its hostilities in Ukraine, as well as for violating international sanctions by a group of persons after prior agreement’.
According to Latvian local media, Khalilov also coordinated with three other detainees — Latvian nationals Danila Goculaks and Alens Navickas, and foreign national Marija Mikhejeva.
Only Khalilov was detained during the court investigation. He attended his hearings online from the Riga Central Prison and refused representation by a lawyer.
According to the Latvian court’s website, Khalilov had ‘provided significant support in the implementation of the military attack on Ukraine’.
The Latvian Prosecutor’s Office has also stated that the detainees carried out various tasks for Khalilov, for example, ‘opening current accounts, monitoring deliveries of goods, and removing equipment’.
LSM.lv reported that ‘the deal involves the delivery of more than 60 Starlink Mini Kit satellite internet devices manufactured by the US company SpaceX to Russia. The device, which costs a couple of hundred euros, provides internet access from almost anywhere’.
Additionally, Khalilov purchased ‘no less than 85 prepaid SIM cards and created no less than 42 e-mails with fictitious identities in order to circumvent the restrictions on ordering Starlink’.
‘Khalilov agreed with freight and passenger transport drivers that they would secretly import the goods into Russia for a fee and return them to specific individuals. In one of the episodes, according to the prosecutor, it has been proven that 45 Starlink devices reached the Moscow market “Gorbushka”, which has been famous since the Soviet years as a point of sale for electronics and music records’, wrote local media Apollo.lv.
The devices were reportedly being sent to Russian-occupied Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine.
Court investigations revealed that the devices were allegedly sold to a person linked to the Chechen Akhmat special forces unit.
Khalilov’s group had operated from June–October 2024, the VDD has said. They seized several Starlink devices from his home.
‘However, not all of those involved have been identified. The people involved were in Germany, Latvia, and Russia. The organised group consisted of people who were in Russia’, stated prosecutor Roberts Urdziņš.
Apollo.lv additionally reported that the group procured ‘Military backpacks, weapon frames, an optical sight, a calibrator, and chronographs purchased in Western stores, as well as numerous weather gauges with a ballistic calculator’.
Local media wrote that Khalilov also organised ‘the purchase of bullets and cartridge cases from a Polish company, hiding his identity behind Bulgarian and German companies, and the import of these goods into Russia’.
The Prosecutor’s Office estimated that the total value of the ordered goods was approximately €200,000 ($230,000).
