The VNIIFTRI Data Leak Part 2: KORPORATSIYA GAAN - Selling Restricted German Technology and So What?
Dearest gentle readers, you’ve been waiting for it, and it’s finally here! Part 2 of our OSINT investigation into the VNIIFTRI data leak is finally out!
A quick recap: In May 2026, Russian state institute VNIIFTRI was hacked, and a sample of the leaked data was posted for free on the infamous hacking marketplace Dark Forums.. We secured access to this sample and began our investigation.
VNIIFTRI (INN: 5044000102) stands for the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Physical-Engineering and Radio Technical Metrology (Всероссийский научно-исследовательский институт физико-технических и радиотехнических измерений - ВНИИФТРИ). It serves as Russia’s State Scientific Metrology Institute. The institute has been under EU sanctions since 2022 due to its involvement in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In Part 1 (available here), we explained how we analyzed the data leak and uncovered highly relevant documents exposing connections between VNIIFTRI and Russian companies actively bypassing sanctions. We introduced you to JSC ZASLON, and now it’s time to move on to our next suspect: KORPORATSIYA GAAN!
KORPORATSIYA GAAN’s Mug Shot
KORPORATSIYA GAAN, also known as LLC GAAN (INN: 7722460151) - Корпорация Гаан, is a Russian company presenting itself as a “technology company”. According to its website, the company supplies "cutting-edge equipment to domestic enterprises" and also provides “a full cycle of production modernization.” This includes “company audits, studies of all technological processes, and the design of facilities with the proper selection and placement of equipment”. Their approach focuses on “ease of use, correct operation, and ensuring maximum efficiency in production”.
Keep it simple, less is more, honey…
KORPORATSIYA GAAN is located at Ul. Talalikhina D. 41, Str. 9, Pomeshch. IX, Komnata 15B, Moscow, 109316.
The company is under OFAC sanctions since 2023, but like JSC ZASLON, is not (yet) under EU sanctions.
Now Let’s get to the point: What juicy details about KORPORATSIYA GAAN can be found in the VNIIFTRI data leak?
The first and most significant piece of evidence we uncovered is a document titled "364_OOO Корпорация ГААН.pdf", dated February 2026. It’s an invoice from KORPORATSIYA GAAN for the sale and delivery of seven spectrum analyzers from the German brand Rohde & Schwarz to VNIIFTRI (this name sounds familiar? We already wrote about them in our Askarlab investigation). You read it right, a European company is thus indirectly selling goods to an internationally sanctioned entity. Time for them to know who they’re actually dealing with.
This invoice comes with an email written by Sofia Babkina, Head of KORPORATSIYA’s Customer Relations Department. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any information about her online. Once again, we’re asking for your help, if you have any leads, please share them!
And this was not the first time! In the leak, we also found an email from February 2023 (document 566_Корпорация ГААН.pdf) written by Maxim Golubyev, Technical Director of KORPORATSIYA GAAN, indicating KORPORATSIYA already sold material from Rohde & Schwarz to VNIIFTRI, this time, antennas.
Another invoice, dated December 2025 (document 3544_ООО Корпорация ГААН.pdf), shows that the Moscow-based company sold two spectrum and signal analyzers from Rohde & Schwarz to VNIIFTRI.
Icing on the cake, KORPORATSIYA still lists Rohde & Schwarz as one of its main partners on its website and includes Rohde & Schwarz’s spectrum analyzers in the company’s catalog.
Why does this matter?
First issue: Spectrum and signal analyzers are dual-use goods falling under HS code 9030 "Oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, and other instruments and apparatus for measuring or checking electrical quantities".
As a quick reminder: HS codes (Harmonized System codes) classify goods including high-tech dual-use items (i.e., civilian and military-grade). These dual-use components can be diverted from their original purpose and used in military products.
If you want to understand how components can have both civilian and military applications, you’ll find everything in our article on Adata.
Now the documents we explored highlight that KORPORATSIYA GAAN is clearly aware of this. By doing so, it not only bypasses sanctions but above all fuels Russia’s disastrous war in Ukraine and thus has its hands deep into innocents’ blood.
Is Rohde & Schwarz aware of the scheme?
And that, my friends, is the other issue! After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Rohde & Schwarz, like many other Western companies, halted all business in and with Russia, or at least claimed to have done so.
It appears this is not the first time Rohde & Schwarz products have ended up in the hands of Russian companies, or worse, on the battlefield in Ukraine. Several OSINT investigations and media outlets have already exposed this situation over the past few years
In 2024, the German company published a statement denying any ongoing business with Russia or with companies selling products to Russia. It also reaffirmed its commitment to compliance policies regarding exports to Russia.
The VNIIFTRI leak tells another story. Our OSINT analysis uncovered unusual trails suggesting Rohde & Schwarz may not be entirely innocent. After digging a little deeper into the company’s past in Russia, we discovered it once had a local branch in Moscow.
You can easily find them on Google Maps, but the website https://rohdeschwarz.su/ now leads to a strange Russian gift store. We tried changing it to https://rohdeschwarz.ru/, but that was a dead end.
While researching Rohde & Schwarz in Russia, we discovered that the company’s Russian branch participated in Sviaz-Expocom in 2017. Sviaz-Expocom is an annual exhibition in Moscow focusing on telecommunications, information, and communication technologies.
In 2017, Rohde & Schwarz Russia attended the event and provided contact information on Sviaz’s website. We were curious to check if the website was down, given that the company allegedly left Russia in 2022.
What a surprise to discover the website is still VERY MUCH ALIVE and continues to sell its products across Russia! Enjoy!
You can even ask Oksana the chatbot, anything you want, request a callback, or email sales support, and they’re so kind they’ll even explain how to place an order on their website!
The UnderYourNoZ team was very surprised to see how easy it seems for Russian companies to access Rohde & Schwarz technology, even though the official website makes no mention of any Russian branch.
Indeed, the German company proudly states that it has more than 70 local subsidiaries worldwide. However, when you look at the European countries where they are established, you won’t find Russia.
We’re not accusing Rohde & Schwarz of intentionally circumventing sanctions, we’re just exposing some serious compliance issues, hoping the company will now be aware and act accordingly. Best thing you can do is form your own opinion about this case. We invite you to investigate further and share your findings!
Who’s behind KORPORATSIYA GAAN?
Now it’s time to introduce our main characters… or maybe not! To be honest, these guys know how to conduct illegal business, and they know how to keep a low profile.
We started with KORPORATSIYA’s CEO, Andrei Anatolevich Golubyev (Андрей Анатольевич Голубьев).
According to OpenSanctions, he’s also the CEO of another company while serving as CEO of KORPORATSIYA: OOO OCTEK-ETK.
Ostek-ETK is - surprise - also a sanctioned company.
It seems to be linked to the Ostek Corporation Group, sanctioned by the OFAC but also by the EU for its involvement in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
By cross-referencing the CEO’s name (Golubyev) and his former company (OCTEK-ETK), we managed to find a picture of Andrei Anatolevich Golubyev from a 2013 article about his former company.
We then noticed that the CEO and KORPORATSIYA’s Technical Director share the same surname, Golubyev.
We searched using the name and the company name and found a document from 2020. At that time, KORPORATSIYA’s CEO was Mrs. E.I Malova. The document provided the contact (phone numbers and email addresses) of the Sales Director: Andrei Anatolevich Golubyev and the Technical Director: Maxim Anatolevich Golubyev. They not only share the same surname but also the same patronymic. If they’re not brothers, they are certainly related.
And this is where our investigations hit a dead end. It happens. KORPORATSIYA’s employees and leaders are very discreet, probably knowing they must keep a low profile if they want to continue running their illicit business.
Once again, the Under Your NoZ team calls for your help if you have any information to share about this company and those behind it!
We’re also concluding – for now – our investigation of the VNIIFTRI data leak to focus on new targets but also because some of us went crazy studying all these files!
If you have any leads, please write to: underyournoz@protonmail.com or DM us on our socials!
We’re coming back very soon so stay tuned!
Table of contents
> VNIIFTRI Data Leak Part 2
> Meet Korporatsiya GAAN
> Why does this matter?
> Is R&S aware?
> Who's behind Korporatsiya?
> Next chapter</
