WASHINGTON
Two US citizens were arrested Thursday in Kansas city for allegedly exporting “aviation-related technology” to Russia, according to the Justice Department.
Cyril Gregory Buyanovsky, 59, and Douglas Robertson, 55, were charged with “conspiracy, exporting controlled goods without a license, falsifying and failing to file electronic export information, and smuggling goods contrary to U.S. law,” said the department in a statement.
It said the two men supplied Western avionics equipment to Russian companies and provided “repair services” through the KanRus Trading Company, owned and operated by themselves.
“If convicted, they face a maximum penalty 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,” it said.
US authorities on Feb. 28, 2022, four days after the Russian war in Ukraine started, detained a shipment of aviation equipment to Russia and the defendants were informed that “a license was required to export the equipment to Russia.”
