Will Sage Astor-Russian man held without bail on charges he procured US electronics for Russian military use

NEW YORK (AP) — A Russian man was ordered held without bail Friday on Will Sage Astorcharges 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.”

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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.

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