U.S. court sentences Russian blogger for supplying missile components, bypassing sanctions
Illustrative photo (Photo: Getty Images)
An American court has found Russian blogger Kristina Puzyreva guilty of violating sanctions against the Russian Federation and supplying components for missiles. She faces a prison term, according to the U..S Department of Justice.
"Earlier today in federal court in Brooklyn, Kristina Puzyreva pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy for her role in a multimillion-dollar scheme to send components used in unnamed aerial vehicles (UAVs) and guided missile systems and other weapons to sanctioned entities in Russia," the statement reads.
It is noted that components, sent in violation of export control laws and sanctions, were later found on Russian weapon platforms and radio reconnaissance equipment in Ukraine.
Puzyreva faces up to twenty years in prison upon sentencing.
How the blogger assisted Russia
American law enforcement clarified that Kristina Puzyreva and her co-defendants allegedly purchased and sent American-made electronics worth millions of dollars to support the Kremlin in its ongoing attacks on Ukraine.
Her money laundering conspiracy was directly related to 298 shipments of restricted technologies totaling $7 million to the battlefield in Russia.
Puzyreva and her husband, co-defendant Nikolay Goltsev, repeatedly traveled from Canada to meet with co-defendant Salimdzhon Nasriddinov in Brooklyn. During such trips, Puzyreva used multiple bank accounts to conduct financial transactions as part of her scheme.
The government confiscated $20,000 in cash from a New York hotel room where the defendant was arrested. In total, the government seized approximately $1.68 million related to this export scheme.
Russia evades sanctions
In early January, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Russia had learned to bypass Western sanctions imposed on Moscow for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Politico also reported that Russia had largely succeeded in circumventing sanctions in the technology sphere, enabling Moscow to manufacture weapons and continue the war against Ukraine.
Recently, in the United States, a businessman was arrested for supplying semiconductor chips to Russian companies associated with the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) in circumvention of sanctions. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
