Two U.S. citizens have been arrested in Kansas City on suspicion of sending U.S. aviation technology to Russia in violation of export control regulations, Commerce Department spokesman Matthew Axelrod said Thursday. A short time later, the Department of Justice issued a press release detailing the arrest.
After Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the United States and other countries imposed export controls to restrict Russia’s access to technology and other resources. likely to support its military-industrial complex.
The screening targets Russia’s defence, aerospace and navy sectors and has been expanded to include oil refining, industry and commerce, as well as luxury goods.
According to the indictment, the defendants, residents of Kansas, Kiril Buyanovsky, 59, and Douglas Robertson, 55, are the owners of the trading company KanRus, which supplied Western aircraft equipment to Russian companies and supplied repair services for equipment used in Russian-made aircraft.
Beginning in 2020, the defendants began evading US export laws by hiding and misrepresenting the true end users, value, and end destinations of the goods they export.
On February 28, 2022, the defendants attempted to export a batch of aeronautical radioelectronics to Russia. US authorities shut down the party due to the lack of a license to export material to Russia. From May to July 2022, the defendants illegally transported material through Armenia and Cyprus to Russia without obtaining the necessary licenses.
The defendants are charged with conspiracy, exporting controlled goods without a license, falsifying and failing to provide electronic export information, and smuggling goods in violation of the law.
If convicted, they face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each count of exporting controlled goods without a license; up to 10 years in prison for each count of smuggling; and up to five years in prison for each count of conspiracy and falsifying export information.
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