Three Russians arrested in the US for smuggling electronics for the Russian army: what will happen to them

The United States arrested a Russian citizen and two Canadian citizens of Russian descent who were engaged in the illegal transportation of electronics to Russia on a particularly large scale, violating existing sanctions. They were charged with conspiracy and smuggling vital technologies for the aggressor's military equipment.

This was reported by the US Department of Justice. The case is being considered by a court in Brooklyn, New York, USA.

According to court records, 37-year-old Nikolai Goltsev and 32-year-old Kristina Puzyreva, Canadian citizens of Russian descent, and 32-year-old Russian and Tajik citizen Salimdzhon Nasriddinov, who lives in the United States, are charged with three counts: smuggling, conspiracy to violate sanctions, and conspiracy to commit fraud.

Nasriddinov was arrested in Brooklyn, while Goltsev and Puzyreva were arrested in a hotel in Manhattan.

Investigators believe that the defendants used two legal entities registered in Brooklyn to illegally supply, purchase, and ship dual-use electronics to Russian-sanctioned companies.

As noted, they organized the shipment of more than 300 consignments of prohibited goods worth $10 million, much of which went to the needs of the Russian military, over a year.

Some of the electronic components and integrated circuits that were imported into the Russian Federation were later found in Russian equipment on the battlefield in Ukraine, including the Torn-MDM radio reconnaissance complex, Borisoglebsk-2 electronic warfare systems, Izdeliye 305E light multipurpose guided missile, Ka-52 helicopters, Orlan-10 drones, and T-72B3 battle tanks.

According to the investigation, Goltsev received orders from Russian companies to purchase goods in the United States, and then, using pseudonyms, communicated with American manufacturers and suppliers.

Goltsev and Nasriddinov then shipped the goods to various intermediary companies, including those in Turkey, China, India, and the UAE, from where they were transported to Russia. Puzyreva managed numerous bank accounts and carried out financial transactions within the scheme.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, a 56-year-old Russian businessman was sentenced to 18 months in prison in the Netherlands for circumventing sanctions. He sold microchips and drones to Russia.

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