Aksenov Herman

History

2025: Sentence - 3 years in prison for stealing chip development technology

In July 2025, an Otterdam court sentenced 43-year-old Russian engineer German Aksyonov to three years in prison for stealing secret documents from the production of the Dutch companies ASML and Mapper Lithography, as well as for transferring confidential information to Russia in violation of European Union sanctions. The engineer illegally copied files from the servers of technology companies and stored the stolen data of the house on various media.

According to The Register, Aksyonov has been in custody in the Netherlands since August 2023. The prosecution suspected the engineer of stealing confidential documents from semiconductor equipment manufacturers over the years to develop Russian chip production.

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Фото: Freepik

The court found that the defendant violated the 2014 EU sanctions against Russia, which prohibit the provision of technical assistance and the transfer of technology to Russian organizations. The prosecutor's office claimed that Aksyonov kept confidential information on USB drives and a hard drive.

The judge reduced the originally requested time limit from four to three years, citing a lack of evidence that the accused received a monetary reward for passing on classified information. The court was also unable to establish the exact time when the files were stolen.

Aksyonov himself denies all charges, including espionage for Russia. He stated that he kept confidential work documents solely to maintain his professional qualifications and did not transfer them to third parties.

The accused was educated in Russia and worked for Russian technology companies before moving to the Netherlands. Since 2015, he has been listed as an employee of the technical company Mapper Lithography, which developed products for the semiconductor industry.^[1]

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