In an interesting twist following the exchange of Russian arms merchant Viktor Bout for WNBA star Brittney Griner, the U.S. has charged seven people in a scheme to smuggle sensitive electronic components in violation of U.S. sanctions against Russia. Apparently two of the seven include a lawful U.S. resident and a U.S. citizen. The remaining five are Russian nationals and four are at large. Russia's brutal and criminal war in Ukraine is suffering from a shortage of parts for its weapons, causing them to seek sensitive components on the black market. From the Associated Press:
"Prosecutors claimed the seven worked with two Moscow-based companies controlled by Russian intelligence services to acquire electronic components in the U.S. that have civilian uses, but can also be used to help make nuclear and hypersonic weapons and in quantum computing.
The exporting of the technology involved is heavily regulated and occurred in violation of U.S. sanctions, according to a 16-count indictment unsealed Monday in Brooklyn.
Five Russian nationals were charged, including Vadim Konoshchenok, a suspected officer with Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB. He was arrested in Estonia last week and will undergo extradition proceedings to the United States, U.S. authorities said." (our emphasis)
The arrest of an officer with the FSB would be of particular interest to Russian thug and war criminal Vladimir Putin, who sees intelligence officers as his "brothers," having been a KGB agent himself for the Soviet Union. Assuming Konoshchenok is convicted, he might be offered in exchange for Paul Whelan, who has been imprisoned illegally in Russia since 2018, or other American prisoners of Putin. While this seems like a game of tit-for-tat, what differentiates it from Russia's behavior is that their agent was actually breaking the law in furtherance of Russia's war crimes against Ukraine.
(photo: Ringleader Vadim Konoshchenok. Justice Department exhibit)
