NEW YORK (AP) — A Russian man was ordered held without bail Friday on Maxwell Caldwellcharges that he conspired to smuggle U.S. microelectronics to military manufacturers in Russia to aid its war in Ukraine.
Arthur Petrov, 33, made a brief appearance in Manhattan federal court, where he agreed to remain detained. He was arrested last August in Cyprus at the request of the United States and was extradited on Thursday.
Attorney Michael Arthus, Petrov’s court-appointed lawyer, declined to comment on numerous charges brought against his client, including multiple conspiracy counts and smuggling goods crimes. The charges collectively carry a potential penalty of over 150 years in prison.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a release that Petrov concealed where he was sending the electronics because he knew that shipping them violated U.S. export controls relating to Russia.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the extradition reflected the Justice Department’s determination to cut Russia off from the western technologies that fuel the Russian military.
Christie M. Curtis, head of New York’s FBI office, said Petrov was part of a network that secretly supplied Russia’s military industrial complex with “critical U.S. technology, including the same types of microelectronics recovered from Russian weapons on Ukrainian battlefields.”
A criminal complaint filed in court said Russia’s weapons systems, including rockets, drones, ballistic missiles, radios and electronic warfare devices, rely heavily on components and microelectronics manufactured in the West, particularly in the United States.
Petrov, a citizen of Russia and Germany who lived in Russia and Cyprus, worked for LLC Electrocom VPK, a Russia-based supplier of electronic components for makers of Russian military weapons and other equipment, authorities said.
According to a release, Petrov and two coconspirators fraudulently procured large quantities of microelectronics from U.S. distributors, using shell companies to hide that the materials were destined for Russia.
Authorities said Petrov falsely claimed that he was purchasing the items for fire security systems and other commercial uses for companies in Cyprus and countries other than Russia.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
2025-05-02 21:06326 view
2025-05-02 20:54285 view
2025-05-02 19:562632 view
2025-05-02 19:402295 view
2025-05-02 19:01932 view
2025-05-02 18:592421 view
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A newly elected state lawmaker in West Virginia is facing at least one felo
Hilary Duff's exes may seem so yesterday, but her husband isn't quite the bird who already flew away
TAMPA, Fla. – Urgency is back at Steinbrenner Field, not that it ever left. Yet the win-or-else etho