Russian convicted of breaching sanctions by sharing knowhow from tech giant ASML

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — A 43-year-old Russian was convicted Thursday of breaching international sanctions by sharing sensitive information from Dutch semiconductor chip machine maker ASML and another tech company with a person in Russia.

The man, whose identity was not released in line with Dutch privacy guidelines, was sentenced in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam to three years' imprisonment. He was acquitted of some of the counts in his indictment, including that he received payment for the information.

“Giving advice and sharing technology with Russia is extremely serious,” the court said in a written judgment. “It can contribute to strengthening the country’s military and strategic capabilities. That has consequences for Ukraine and indirectly for international security and stability.”

ASML is one of the world’s leading makers of machines to manufacture processor chips. The company has an annual turnover of billions of dollars (euros) thanks to its cutting-edge technology. It had no immediate reaction to the judgment.

Rotterdam District Court said the suspect shared information about setting up a microchip production line in Russia. Such semiconductor chips have many uses including as vital components in military equipment like drones that are a key part of Moscow's war machine in Ukraine.

The suspect showed no emotion as he walked out of the courtroom after his convictions and sentence were read out and translated by a Russian-language interpreter on a speaker phone. He has 14 days to lodge an appeal.

At his trial on June 26, the suspect admitted copying files last year and sending them to a person in Russia using the Signal messaging app.

“I didn't ask myself if these files were allowed to be sent to Russia,” he said in comments quoted in the judgment. “Yes, I gave advice.”

ASML has been slapped with export restrictions in recent years that are seen as part of a U.S. policy that aims at restricting China’s access to materials used to make such chips.

The case is not the first time the Dutch high-tech sector has been a target for industrial espionage.

In 2020, the Dutch domestic intelligence agency said it had unmasked two Russian spies who were targeting the Netherlands’ science and technology sector.

One of the spies was seeking information on artificial intelligence, semiconductors and nanotechnology, the agency said at the time. “This technology has civil as well as military applications, including in weapons systems,” it added.

FILE - the logo of ASML, a leading maker of semiconductor production equipment, hangs on the head office in Veldhoven, Netherlands, on Jan. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A passenger bus crash killed at least 16 people on Indonesia’s main island of Java just after midnight Monday, officials said.

The bus carrying 34 people lost control on a toll road and struck a concrete barrier before rolling onto its side, said Budiono, a search and rescue agency chief who goes by single name like many Indonesians.

The inter-province bus was traveling from the capital Jakarta to the country’s ancient royal city of Yogyakarta when it overturned while entering a curved exit ramp at the Krapyak toll way in Central Java's Semarang city, he said.

“The forceful impact threw several passengers and left them trapped against the bus body,” Budiono said.

Police and rescue teams arrived about 40 minutes after the accident and recovered the bodies of six passengers who died at the scene. Another 10 people died on the way to a hospital or while being treated, Budiono said.

The 18 victims being treated at two nearby hospitals included five people in critical condition and 13 in serious condition, he said.

Television news reports showed the yellow bus overturned on its side and surrounded by National Search and Rescue Agency personnel, police and passersby as ambulances transported victims and the dead away from the accident scene.

Witnesses told authorities the bus was traveling at high speed before the driver lost control, Central Java Police Chief Ribut Hari Wibowo said at Dr. Karyadi General Hospital in Semarang where the bodies were being identified.

The driver was a substitute who sustained serious injuries but was able to communicate while under medical care, he said.

“We are still investigating the cause of the crash and questioning the injured substitute driver,” Wibowo said, adding that police planned to test the driver for prohibited substances including drugs.

In this photo released by the Semarang Search and Rescue Office, rescuers tend to a victim of a deadly bus crash on a toll road in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (Semarang SAR Office via AP)

In this photo released by the Semarang Search and Rescue Office, rescuers carry a survivor of a deadly bus crash on a stretcher, in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. (Semarang SAR Office via AP)