War Crimes in Russia: The Zlatev-Bohm Deal, Foreign Intelligence and Implications for the American-Russian War on Democracy
Mr. Zlatev and his partner took their first stab at international arms dealing. Contract documents and other records obtained by The New York Times show that the deal relied on layers of middlemen and transit across seven countries. And it exists in a legal gray area, designed to skirt the arms-export rules of other countries.
They recently wrote a letter to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. They outlined a plan to sell American, Bulgarian and Bosnian arms to Ukraine.
The US imposed more sanctions on shipments to Russia last year due to the war inUkraine. According to prosecutors, Robertson and Buyanovsky discussed using third-party countries as a way to send shipments to at least one client in Russia.
The Justice Department charged more than a dozen people and two companies for their alleged involvement in illegal schemes to send military technology to Russia, which some of the technology has allegedly been recovered from Ukrainian battlefields.
“As alleged, the defendants perpetrated a sophisticated procurement network that illegally obtained sensitive U.S. technology to facilitate the Russian war machine,” Breon Peace, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement Tuesday. The office will never rest in its pursuit of those who illegally obtain U.S. technology to be used in the Russian war on democracy.
On Wednesday, Garland testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he believed the Russian government was committing crimes against humanity and said the Justice Department supports efforts by The Hague to investigate and prosecute those crimes.
The Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture – made up of federal prosecutors, investigators and analysts – has worked for the past year to target the complex web of wealth surrounding Russian oligarchs and Kremlin insiders. Since the beginning of the war, the Justice Department has seized more than $500 million in yachts, properties and other assets from people who support the Russian government and have evaded US sanctions, according to a department news release.
One indictment, filed in New York, accuses five Russian nationals and two oil brokers for Venezuela of setting up a network of shell companies to illegally send US military technology to Russia and millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil to Russian and Chinese buyers, avoiding US sanctions.
The agency imposed sanctions on the Russian businessman with ties to the Russian Prime Minister, as well as the RussianTurkmen arms dealer.
The defendants faked shipping documents and created fake company names in order to complete the transaction, and ran tens of millions of dollars through bank accounts. One of the defendants bragged about how easy it was to get into a bank, saying that the bank was the most well-equipped in the country.
Four individuals – three Latvians and one Ukrainian residing Estonia – face several charges for allegedly conspiring to smuggle the item, a high-precision grinding machine, to individuals in Russia, the Justice Department said.
According to the Justice Department, three Latvians and a Ukrainian were taken into custody in their home countries on Tuesday at the request of the United States, who are trying to extradite them. Charging documents have not been unsealed for the case, and it is not yet clear if the defendants have entered a formal plea.
Mr. Brayman, an American citizen, and Mr. Yermolenko, were indicted on the charge of obstruction to public good in the Russian War on Democracy
A set of 45 advanced Semiconductors, a $45,000 Low noise cesium synthesizer, high quality spectrum analyzers, and pricey oscilloscopes were among those items that were included in the indictment. Many are so-called dual-use devices that can be employed for military or civilian purposes.
Mr. Peace said that their office will not rest in its pursuit of those who procure U.S. technology for use in Russia’s war on democracy.
There are three people named by the Justice Department, and they are Boris Livshits, a former Brooklyn resident and Alexey Ippolitov, a Moscow resident.
The defendants could be sentenced to 30 years in prison if they are found guilty of the most serious charges. Some of them are still at large.
Two people, including an American citizen and an Israeli citizen, were taken to jail on Tuesday.
Mr. Brayman was released on a $150,000 bond and subject to conditions that included turning in his passports and wearing an electronic monitoring device. “Mr Brayman is entitled to a presumption of innocence like any other person,” said his lawyer David Lazarus.
Mr. Yermolenko was released after posting a $500,000 bond partially secured by his house. Nora Hirozawa, a lawyer for Mr. Yermolenko at his arraignment, declined to comment.
Analyzing Russian State Intelligence after the Crimes of April 11, 2016: Intel Sharing, Sensitivity, and Evasion
When Estonian law enforcement searched a warehouse allegedly used by Konoshchenok they discovered 375 pounds of US-made ammunition, according to the Justice Department. The US will try to extradite Konoshchenok.
Grinin and Skvortsova would allegedly map out shipping routes while Livshits – through shell companies and US bank accounts – would allegedly purchase the items from US companies, according to the indictment.
“As we look forward, one of the centerpieces of our strategy will be to counter attempts to evade our sanctions,” Adeyemo will say in remarks Tuesday at the Council on Foreign Relations, according to excerpts of his speech obtained by CNN. Russia is looking for ways to evade the sanctions. In fact, one of the ways we know our sanctions are working is that Russia has tasked its intelligence services – the FSB and GRU – to find ways to get around them.”
In an interview with CNN, Adeyemo said that intel sharing was one of the main pieces of this. To get rid of evasion we need to map it out, so we can look across countries and get the information we need.
Since Russia launched its bloody war against Ukraine, the US has imposed thousands of sanctions against Russian politicians, oligarchs and companies, cut off the Russian central bank from its dollar-denominated reserves as well as the global financial messaging system, undermined Russia’s defense-industrial base and imposed a price cap on Russian oil and petroleum products.
“Spending the country’s savings can hide the damage for now, but our actions are forcing Russia to mortgage its economic future to save face today. Of course, we have more work to do, and we will continue to do more until Russia’s ceases its baseless and illegal invasion. But one year into this conflict, Russia’s economy looks more like Iran’s than a G-20 country,” Adeyemo will say.
“Last year, rather than the forecasted budget surplus, Russia suffered a budget deficit of $47 billion dollars. The country experienced a second highest deficit in the post-Soviet era. Industrial production has declined in Russia for 9 straight months, and we are planning to take further actions to further decimate the Kremlin’s industrial base,” Adeyemo will say.
These latest actions by the Treasury Department are among a series of new measures announced by the Biden administration Friday that are meant to strengthen Kyiv and deter those providing support to Moscow as the war enters its second year without signs of abating.
The administration on Friday imposed sanctions against a total of “over 200 individuals and entities, including both Russian and third-country actors across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East that are supporting Russia’s war effort,” according to the White House fact sheet.
The latest tranche of Treasury Department sanctions target a total of 22 individuals and 83 entities, according to a Treasury Department news release, and were taken in coordination with the Group of 7 nations.
Among those sanctioned by the Treasury Department Friday are Swiss-Italian businessman Walter Moretti “and his network of associates and companies” – including companies based in Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, Malta, Bulgaria and Russia – whom the Treasury Department said “have covertly procured sensitive Western technologies and equipment for Russian intelligence services and the Russian military, including hydraulic presses, armament packages, and armor plating.”
“These targets include government ministers, governors, and high-level officials in Russia, as well as six individuals and three entities operating in parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia, facilitating grain theft, and governing on behalf of Russia,” he said.
The Russian military attacks on and seizure of the ZNPP have underscored the global concerns related, according to the deputy secretary of state.
They hit three companies involved in expanding Russia’s energy production and export capacity, including those involved with the design and construction of the Sever Bay Terminal, as part of the Vostok oil projects.
The latest sanctions hit numerous Russia-based entities involved in the production of carbon fiber and related materials, which are used in nearly all defense-related platforms including aircraft, ground combat vehicles, missiles, and military personal protection gear. They also imposed sanctions on companies tied to Russia’s aerospace, technology and electronics sectors.
Cyril Gregory Buyanovsky and Douglas Robertson are facing several charges, among them that they exported controlled goods without a license, that they failed to submit electronic export data, and that they smuggled goods into the US.
A KanRus shipment in February 2022 was flagged by the Department of Commerce because it did not have the proper licensing, according to the indictment.
Robertson, who is a commercial pilot, allegedly told a Russia-based client that things are complex in the USA and that invoices should be less than $50,000 because otherwise there would be more paperwork and visibility. A shipment to that Russian client was later sent through Laos, prosecutors say.
Russia and the United States as a War Crimes Criminal Investigate: Attorney General Garland and the Attorney General on the Ukraine Visited Friday
The attorney general went toUkraine on Friday for the second time in a year, this time after Russia invaded the country a year ago.
President Joe Biden made his first trip to the country in two weeks and it is one of a number of trips made by members of his Cabinet. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also recently made a trip to Ukraine to meet with Zelensky.
The attorney general last went to Ukraine in June and similarly committed the United States’ assistance in finding and prosecuting those who committed war crimes. During that trip, Garland announced that he was appointing Eli Rosenbaum, the top US so-called “Nazi hunter,” to lead a Justice Department team to identify and prosecute war criminals.
“The United States supports what is now being developed in The Hague, sponsored by Eurojust, looking into the possibility of creating that court [to charge crimes of aggression,]” Garland testified.
“There are concerns that we have to take into account with respect to how that might deal with our own service members and other circumstances,” he continued. We have to make sure that the railings are up. But we support any number of different ways in which war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the potential for crimes against aggression are investigated.”
TheDeputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said it was important to go after those who had fueled the Russian war machine. To show that we were able to work quickly with our partners and that we could set a time frame for their enforcement of the sanctions.
Part of that enforcement work has involved seizing the big-ticket items that Kremlin-aligned oligarchs have reaped from the allegedly ill-gotten gains.
Last May, for example, the FBI assisted authorities in Fiji in the seizure of a 348-foot luxury yacht that the U.S. says belongs to sanctioned oligarch Suleiman Kerimov.
The forfeiture complaint was filed for six properties in New York and Florida that are believed to be owned by a sanctioned member of the business community.
She says that the task force has moved to a second phase, which is going after the companies and people that enable and facilitates the ability of these guys to hide their wealth.
The United States has a policy of targeting the people who it says are connected to the Putin regime.
Federal prosecutors have charged Deripaska and three women with conspiracy to violate American sanctions. The alleged scheme involved arranging for the Russian girlfriend to have a baby in the U.S.
Russia’s frustration with sanctions and a new tool to transfer Ukrainian assets to the Ukranian judiciary: Comment on Italian Chancellor Emanuev
But Ferrari did say that his office, which specializes in sanctions issues, is fielding calls on a daily basis from Russians with sanctions-related questions.
Some of the Russians calling him want advice on how to comply with sanctions, while others are looking for help to get out from under the punitive measures.
“I have lots of clients who are U.S., European businesses, and I think they’re all especially careful now in terms of how they deal with Russians because of the sanctions, but also because criminal prosecution and sanctions get people people’s attention,” Firestone said.
While the task force and the broader international effort has imposed a degree of discomfort on Kremlin-aligned oligarchs, there’s little indication that it has prompted them to pressure Putin to pull back in Ukraine—as some Western policy makers had hoped.
Alexander Gabuev, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that’s because oligarchs’ voices don’t matter to the Kremlin.
The people in charge of the army, police and security services have been under sanctions from the United States for many years, according to him.
As the fighting on the battlefields of eastern Ukraine rages on and Putin shows no sign of looking for a brokered peace, the the Justice Department is putting to use a new tool that gives it the ability to transfer to Ukraine assets seized from sanctioned oligarchs.
The attorney general authorized the transfer of $5 million to Ukranian. The money pales in comparison to Ukraine’s needs in the middle of a devastating war, but Monaco says it’s just the first step.