Three Russians in NYC Caught Selling Weapon Components to Moscow

Three people, two of them Russian-Canadians and one dual citizen of Russia and Tajikistan, were arrested in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on Tuesday for attempting to circumvent US sanctions by shipping dual-use electronic components intended for military use by Moscow in its war against Ukraine, AFP reported.

Nikolay Golstev, 37, his wife Kristina Puzyreva, 32, and Russian-Tajik citizen Salimdzhon Nariddinov, 52, were arrested for sending “over 300 shipments of restricted items, valued at approximately $10 million, to the Russian battlefield,” said Ivan Arvelo, a special agent with the US Department of Homeland Security. The shipments took place over the course of a year, AFP noted.

The dual-use components sent to Russia by the Brooklyn-based outfit were found in recovered Russian missile systems, drones, tanks and helicopters, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said. In addition, federal prosecutors were able to seize more than a million dollars in proceeds from the illegal operation.

“These entities unlawfully sourced, purchased and shipped millions of dollars in dual-use electronics from US manufacturers to sanctioned end users in Russia,” read the DOJ statement announcing the charges. “The defendants were aware that the electronics being exported had potential military applications.” The DOJ further alleged that the plot was “a global procurement scheme on behalf of sanctioned Russian entities, including companies affiliated with the Russian military.”

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Brooklyn is home to a large population of Russian émigrés and is also notorious for its concentration of Russian mafia actors.