The Russian agent who smuggled computer chips from France
Maxim Ermakov was part of an operation that obtained the sophisticated microchips for the Russian military.
As their yacht bobbed on the Mediterranean in July, 2021, Marc Rocchi snapped a picture of a slightly doughy Russian man in baggy swimming trunks, dozing with his head propped against the helm.
The French businessman would later say that he only knew the Russian by his first name, Maxim. But he knew the purchases Maxim had been making for years had been essential to the survival of Ommic, a French microchip manufacturer of which Rocchi was then director-general.
Financial Times
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