Two citizens of the state of Kansas were brought to criminal responsibility for exporting advanced aviation technologies to Moscow
Two US citizens have been arrested for smuggling sophisticated aircraft equipment into Russia, violating licensing requirements for sensitive technology even as Washington tightens export restrictions amid the conflict in Ukraine.
59-year-old Kirill Gregory Buyanovsky and 55-year-old Douglas Robertson of KanRus Trading Co. in the United States. is accused of violating export laws by concealing and misrepresenting the cost, destinations and end users of avionics equipment it sold through a company called This was reported by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday. The pair, both living in Kansas, provided unlicensed repair services to Russian aircraft electronics, including a computer processor bearing the Moscow label of the Federal Security Service (FSB).
The allegations date back to at least 2020 and typically involve sending packages through third countries. For example, prosecutors say, Buyanovsky and Robertson hid the FSB-branded processor by issuing a false invoice that falsely indicated the consignee’s final destination was Germany.
A few days after Moscow launched its military operation against Ukraine last February, KanRus shipments to Russia were halted. The United States Department of Commerce said the exporter would need a license for such technology. Last April, Robertson told one of his Russian clients about it “The situation in the USA is complicated” and this “this is not the right time (to fill out the papers and show up)”, said the DOJ. Over the next three months, the pair shipped aviation equipment to Russia via Armenia and Cyprus.
Both men were charged with conspiracy, unlicensed export of controlled goods, falsifying export information and contraband goods contrary to US law. If convicted, they face a maximum of 20 years in prison for the controlled goods licensing violation, as well as ten years for each count of smuggling and five years for conspiracy and falsifying export information.
The KanRus investigation was coordinated by the DOJ’s KleptoCapture task force, which was created to enforce sanctions, export controls and economic countermeasures imposed by the United States to punish Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.
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