US Citizen Sent Aviation Equipment to Russia via Armenia, Faces Up to 25 Years in Prison

A US citizen, Kiril Buyanovski, a resident of Lawrence, Kansas, recently pleaded guilty to sending aviation equipment to Russia through his company, KanRus Trading Company Inc. This activity was conducted after Russia faced Western sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as reported by the US Department of Justice.

According to reports, Armenia was among several countries used as a connecting link for this operation. Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen stated, "Buyanovski admitted to participating in the smuggling of sophisticated American aviation equipment to Russia for an extended period."

As per US government announcements, Buyanovski, president of the trading company, confessed to smuggling American-made aviation equipment to Russia from 2020 until his arrest in March 2023, in collusion with other accused individuals, including Douglas Edward Robertson, the company’s vice president. They knowingly falsified export documents and did not present the required paperwork to the US government.

Through these deceptions, Buyanovski and his accomplices lied about the value of the exported goods, their ultimate beneficiaries, and final addresses. It was noted that in 2021, Buyanovski and Robertson illegally transferred an aviation TCAS system to the US for repairs, violating export control regulations. Before sending the system to an American repair company, the markings related to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) were removed, and they were affixed again before shipping it back to Russia.

Buyanovski also admitted that after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the subsequent sanctions from the US government, he, Robertson, and other accomplices continued to purchase and export US-made aviation equipment to their clients in Russia, taking various steps to conceal their illegal activities from law enforcement.

Specifically, Buyanovski exported products through intermediary companies based in Armenia, the United Arab Emirates, and Cyprus, and continued to submit falsified export documents to the US government. They used non-Russian bank accounts to transfer funds from Russian clients to KanRus Trading Company, with these banks located in Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Cyprus, and the UAE, according to the US Department of Justice.

US law enforcement agencies have also seized aviation equipment and accessories worth more than $450,000 from Buyanovski. He faces up to 25 years in prison—5 years for conspiracy and 20 for money laundering. The court is set to announce its verdict on March 21, 2024.