1/ The Russian government has sued communications equipment manufacturer NPO Angstrem for 7.65 billion rubles ($94.5 m) for allegedly committing a massive fraud, in which supposedly state-of-the-art hand-held radios were substituted for cheap relabeled Chinese products. ⬇️

2/ The lawsuit is the latest in the sorry story of the R-187P Azart radio, dubbed 'the green crocodile' – an advanced software-defined radio said to be immune to interception. It was commissioned after the 2008 invasion of Georgia exposed serious communications failings.

4/ The company and corrupt government officials stole 6.5 billion rubles ($80.3 m) by substituting relabeled Chinese components for the Russian-designed systems they were supposed to be producing.