France extradites Belarusian woman to US over suspected aircraft parts shipments to Russia

Yana Leonova, a 33-year-old Belarusian national, has been extradited from France to the US on charges of plotting to violate the Export Control Reform Act, to commit smuggling, to commit money laundering and to defraud the United States.

As reported by US Department of Justice, according to the indictment, in May 2022, following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Leonova – using accomplices based in the US – purchased and unlawfully exported numerous avionics and other aircraft equipment from the United States to Russia.

The press release said the exported goods were intended for use on private aircraft operated by Leonova's former employer, a company listed among the entities restricted by the US Department of Commerce.

Investigators established that Leonova and her associates had purchased aviation components from US-based distributors.

Using companies registered in Armenia, the Maldives and other countries, they subsequently transferred the components to Russia without the required export licences from the US Department of Commerce.

"This defendant tried to circumvent US law to enrich herself by procuring and illicitly exporting, from the United States to Russia, avionics and other prohibited equipment," said US Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.

Leonova and her associates repeatedly concealed and misrepresented the true end users and final destinations of the aviation components.

She also arranged for goods to be sent to Russia via intermediary destinations and facilitated US-dollar transfers from foreign bank accounts to American ones.

On 4 November, the US Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against eight individuals and two legal entities accused of involvement in money laundering schemes.

Earlier, a German court decided to initiate criminal proceedings against two former Siemens executives accused of violating sanctions by assisting in the export of gas turbines to Russian-occupied Crimea.