On a dusty street on the outskirts DubaiSohrab Fani’s business benefits from Western sanctions against Russia: His workshop installs heated cushions in car seats re-exported to Russia.

For many years, he said, 12,000 heated pillows were in the warehouses of his company, until the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions that followed drove American, European and Japanese automakers out of the Russian market.

But now the Russians are importing these cars through Dubai. But since most cars exported to the Middle East are designed for hot climates, companies that install aftermarket parts like heated pads are doing gold business.

“When the Russians came, I sold my goods,” emphasizes Mr. Fani and adds, “there are sanctions in Russia, but not here, we do business here.” So he ordered thousands of heated pillows. Western sanctions have hurt the Russian economy, but not brought it to its knees. The international trading network has been adjusted in line with the Russian president’s promise that the lifestyle and consumption of the Russian elite will not be drastically affected.

Abdullah Ahmadi, an Afghan, learned enough Russian in less than a year in Dubai to deal with Russian-speaking clients.

Russia imports luxury goods through an international network of intermediaries. In Moscow, the latest iPhones are delivered on the day of order and are cheaper than in Europe. The stores still have and sell items from the luxury houses of Gucci, Prada and Burberry. Car sales sites advertise new models of Land Rover, Audi, BMW. And the demand for luxury goods in Russia remains high. “The rich always stay rich,” says Ekaterina Kontratius, communications director for a luxury car dealership in Dubai, who recently shipped a Porsche Cayenne Turbo GT to a Russian dealer.

In Dubai, prospective buyers roam the showrooms looking at western cars whose favorite is the Dodge Ram, buy them, pay cash and order delivery to Russia. Some of them are wealthy Russians buying for themselves or small business owners looking to buy and resell cars to make a quick and easy profit. According to the Russian analytical company Avtostat, indirect imports of Western cars last year reached 12% of the 626,300 new cars sold in Russia.

Something similar happens with electronics. In Dubai’s old shopping district, Deira, electronics wholesalers are vying for the right to hire more Russian-speaking employees. “This is an open secret,” says the owner of the wholesale company Bright Zone International General Trading, emphasizing: “The competition for Russia is tough here.” The owner of the company says that during the past year during the holiday season, he sent hundreds of smartphones and laptops to Russia. A little further on there is another electronics store, and its seller is an Afghan Abdullah Ahmadai. He says he came to Dubai less than a year ago and has learned enough Russian in that time to deal with Russian-speaking clients.

A recent report compiled by a Russian body refers to “parallel imports” of laptops and smartphones, which reached $1.5 billion last year.

New trade routes pass through countries that maintain friendly relations with Moscow. Western analysts and officials commonly cite Turkey, China and former Soviet republics such as Armenia and Kazakhstan as the top countries pushing Western goods into Russia.

One March night at a car market in Dubai, Sergey Kaskarov closed his latest deal and shipped six Mitsubishi cars to a dealer in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, passing through Iran and Kazakhstan. Mr. Kaskarov left Siberia in 2021 and settled in Dubai, where he acts as an intermediary, connecting Russian import companies with Dubai suppliers. “I’m not complaining,” he says, adding, “I have a lot of work to do.”