US uncovers two global plans to send military technology to Russia

Steph Deschamps / October 20, 2022

The United States has filed lawsuits against a dozen individuals and several companies after discovering two separate programs to send technology to Russia in defiance of US laws and sanctions.

The U.S. Department of Justice said some "powerful dual-use civilian-military technology" was found on the battlefields of Ukraine, while other nuclear technology was intercepted before reaching Russian soil.

In one case, five Russian nationals and two oil brokers for Venezuela were indicted for their alleged involvement in a sanctions circumvention and money laundering scheme.

According to court documents, one of the defendants, Yury Orekhov, a Russian national residing in Germany, is the director of a company in Hamburg.

Orekhov and a business partner "sourced and purchased sensitive and dual-use military technologies" from U.S. manufacturers, the ministry says. The items, including semiconductors and microprocessors used in aircraft, satellites and missile systems, were shipped to Russian end users.

Orekhov also allegedly used his company as a front to smuggle Venezuelan oil to Russian and Chinese buyers, including a Russian aluminum company controlled by a sanctioned oligarch and the world's largest oil, gas and petrochemical refining conglomerate based in Beijing.

In the second case, four individuals and two European companies were charged with violating U.S. export laws by attempting to smuggle into Russia a high-precision computer-controlled grinding machine, an export-controlled item for use in defense and nuclear proliferation programs.