According to the U.S. Department of Justice, two Russian nationals – Vasilii Besedin and Oleg Patsulya pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Export Control Act in connection with their scheme to acquire and illegally export controlled aviation technologies to Russian customers.
The defendants smuggled multiple shipments of sensitive aircraft technologies into Russia, including a carbon disc brake system used on Boeing 737s.
American bank accounts linked to MIC P&I LLC, controlled by Oleg Patsula, received at least $4.5 million sent from Russian airlines through Turkish banks.
Both Besedin and Patsulya pleaded guilty to conspiracy to export items from the United States without a license, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison
Since 2022, Russian airline companies have had problems with receiving spare parts, which is a serious problem for them. According to the Russian government, the Russian commercial aviation fleet in 2021 consisted of 1,287 aircraft, and the share of foreign-made aircraft was 67.1%.
