The United States has indicted 7 people in a massive procurement and money laundering scheme on behalf of the Russian government. There is even a current officer of the Federal Security Service of Russia on the list of accused.
Relevant information was reported in the US Ministry of Justice. According to their data, on December 13 in Brooklyn these persons were indicted on 16 counts.
What do the USA accuse five Russians and two Americans of
According to the indictment, these Americans and Russians conspired to obtain:
– military-grade and dual-use technologies from American companies for Russia’s defense sector;
– as well as smuggling ammunition for sniper rifles, in violation of US sanctions imposed in early 2022.
“According to the indictment, the defendants illegally purchased and exported highly sensitive and strictly regulated electronic components, some of which can be used in the development of nuclear and hypersonic weapons, quantum computing and other military devices,” the Ministry of Justice said.
The department also named the persons against whom charges were brought. In the list:
Yevgeny Hrynin, 44, from Moscow;
57-year-old Aleksey Ippolitov is also a resident of the Russian capital;
52-year-old Boris Lyvshitsy from St. Petersburg;
41-year-old Svetlana Skvortsova from Moscow;
48-year-old Vadim Konoshchenok from St. Petersburg. It is assumed that he is an active officer of the Russian FSB;
35-year-old Alexei Breiman from New Hampshire;
41-year-old Vadym Ermolenko from New Jersey.
The Prosecutor General stated that three of them are in custody. Therefore, the official believes that the USA has already violated the scheme of making illegal purchases.
Moreover, if the guilt of the accused is proven, the seven citizens face up to 30 years in prison.
The Ministry of Justice assured that they will continue to apply economic sanctions against Russia and against those who help the Russian leadership to continue the war in Ukraine.
What preceded it
The entire civilized world imposed sanctions against Russia so that Putin’s regime could not buy weapons and equipment for the war in Ukraine.
In early December, it became known that Russia had already started using 40-year-old ammunition. According to the US, Moscow will use up all its usable ammunition before the beginning of 2023.
Also, the Kremlin lacks parts for airplanes and helicopters. So back in the summer of 2022, they disassembled some planes for spare parts.In addition, Ukraine State Security Service employee and expert of the Ukrainian Institute of the Future Ivan Stupak said that due to sanctions Russia is running out of microelectronics for the military industry. In order to find at least some parts for military equipment, Russians began to buy a lot of household appliances through third countries.
It is known that the Kremlin disassembles refrigerators, irons and other appliances. Microchips are obtained from them, which can be used for primitive weapons.
