U.S. citizens arrested, accused of sending American aviation tech to Moscow

Two U.S. citizens were arrested in Kansas City after being accused of sending American aviation technology to Russia.  The Department of Justice announced the arrests on Thursday.  The arrests co-inside with the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Cyril Gregory Buyanovsky, 59, and Douglas Robertson, 55 have been charged with conspiracy, exporting controlled goods without a necessary license, falsifying export filings and illegally smuggling goods.

If they are found guilty, they face up-to 20 years in prison for each count of unlicensed exporting of controlled goods, up to 10 years for smuggling and up to five years for counts of conspiracy and falsifying records.

The Justice Department believe that Buyanovsky and Robertson supplied “Western avionics equipment” (aircraft electronics) to Russian companies through a company they owned and operated called KanRus Trading Company.

They also reportedly provided repair services for U.S. equipment used in Russian-made planes, according to the Justice Department.

The indictment states Buyanovsky and Robertson evaded U.S. export laws on Russia by misrepresenting the “true end users” and final destinations of the equipment, and also by dispatching them via other countries such as Germany.