Russian Woman Supplying Aircraft Parts to Russia Arrested in Georgia at Request of USA

Russian citizen Tatyana Kurashkevich was detained in Georgia at the request of the United States. US authorities suspect her of circumventing international sanctions and organizing the supply of aircraft parts to Russia after the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine.

According to The Insider, the operation of her detaining was carried out by officers of the Central Criminal Police Department and the Prosecutor General’s Office of Georgia. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, the investigative measures were coordinated directly with the FBI under the existing cooperation agreement between Georgian law enforcement and the US Department of State.

The Russian woman was detained at Tbilisi International Airport. According to official data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, she was wanted internationally on charges of aiding and abetting criminal activity, participating in a criminal conspiracy, and money laundering.

Currently, Georgian law enforcement agencies are carrying out all procedures required by local law for the subsequent extradition of the detainee to the United States. Attorney Beka Nemsitveridze confirmed to TV Pirveli that the US investigation is being conducted under several criminal charges directly related to the illegal export of aircraft components.

The identity of the individual detained in Russia was publicly revealed by Eva Merkachova, a member of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation. According to her, Kurashkevich is an entrepreneur, an expert in international trade, and a graduate student at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (MGIMO).

According to US investigative documents obtained by the detainee’s family, the total prison term for the economic charges—covering four separate counts of sanctions evasion and money laundering—could amount to up to 70 years of imprisonment.

The Russian side has already responded to the incident in Tbilisi, attempting to prevent the extradition of its citizen to US authorities. In particular, representatives of Russian human rights organizations stated that the extradition of Kurashkevich to the United States would allegedly violate current norms of international law.