Two Russians were detained in the US on charges of violating export controls. They sold spare parts for Russian aircraft to bypass sanctions.
The New York Times writes about it.
Last year, the Russian Oleg Patsulya, who lived in the USA, offered the Russian airline "Rosiya" to supply the necessary spare parts and electronics to bypass sanctions. For this, a network of companies from the USA, Turkey, and the Russian Federation was used.
Patsula and his accomplice were detained last Thursday. They were accused of violating sanctions and money laundering.
American trade data aggregator Import Genius has revealed that tens of millions of dollars worth of aircraft parts have been shipped to sanctioned Russian airlines. These are "Russia", "Aeroflot", "Ural", "Peremoha", S7 Airlines and Utair Aviation. Most of the products went through countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, China and the Maldives. But several batches, including those to Russia, were sent directly from the USA or Europe.
- After the invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine on February 24, the European Union closed the skies for Russian aircraft, prohibited the supply of spare parts for them, maintenance, support, and insurance, and also obliged leasing companies to return aircraft that were leased from Russian carriers. The USA also imposed sanctions on the aviation sector of the Russian Federation.
- In July, it became known that Russian airlines refused to return 435 aircraft and aircraft spare parts that they leased from foreign companies. These planes are worth billions of dollars, so leasing companies have already filed $10 billion worth of insurance claims.
- Reuters, citing sources, wrote that Russian airlines, in particular the state-owned company Aeroflot, disassemble planes to get spare parts that they can no longer buy abroad due to Western sanctions.