A Russian man was sentenced to three years in prison in the United States for smuggling dual-purpose American electronics to the Russian Federation.

The US Attorney’s Office reported on this.

It is noted that Russian citizen Maksim Marchenko, together with two accomplices, participated in a foreign illegal procurement network, which, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, purchased a large number of military-grade OLED microdisplays for end users in Russia.

According to the investigation, Marchenko is a Russian national who resides in Hong Kong and operates several Hong Kong-based shell companies, including Alice Components Co. Ltd., Neway Technologies Limited, and RG Solutions Limited.

To conceal the fact that the products were intended for customers from Russia, the end users were named China, Hong Kong, and other countries.

Marchenko was detained in the United States in September 2023. In February 2024, the Russian pleaded guilty to money laundering and smuggling of American microelectronics.

He admitted that he and his accomplices were smuggling technology to Russia through a network of shell companies.

In addition to the prison term, 52-year-old Marchenko was sentenced to three years of supervised release.

The US Department of Justice explained that Marchenko and his accomplices fraudulently acquired electronics from US distributors that could be used in scopes, night vision goggles, thermal imagers, and other weapons systems.

The day before, a married couple with German and Russian citizenship who were involved in exporting components for UAVs to Russia have been jailed in Germany.

The convicted couple was involved in producing military materials and components, including for Orlan-10 drones.

Production and exports took place in violation of the European embargo, and when sending the components, they indicated false recipients to make it appear as if the components remained in Germany.