By SDCN Staff
A Latvian national pleaded guilty Tuesday for his role in a years-long conspiracy to circumvent U.S. export laws by filing false export forms with the U.S. government and, after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, continuing to procure and sell sophisticated and controlled avionics equipment to customers in Russia without the required licenses from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
According to court documents, Oleg Chistyakov, aka Olegs Čitsjakovs, 56, admitted that he conspired with U.S. citizens Cyril Gregory Buyanovsky, 62, and Douglas Edward Robertson, 58, of Kansas, to facilitate the sale, repair, and shipment of U.S.-origin avionics equipment to customers in Russia and in other countries that operate Russian-built aircraft, including the Federal Security Service of Russia. Buyanovksy and Robertson were charged and arrested in Kansas in March 2023 and pleaded guilty.
Chistyakov also admitted that, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and despite additional U.S. economic countermeasures levied against Russia, Chistyakov and his conspirators continued to smuggle and export sophisticated and controlled avionics equipment to companies in Russia without the required licenses from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
He further admitted that, while operating from Latvia and often through his Emirati company RosAero FZC, he worked with Buyanovsky and Robertson through their U.S. company, KanRus Trading Company Inc. (KanRus), to circumvent U.S export laws by purchasing avionics equipment from U.S. companies for customers in Russia.
Chistyakov admitted that he and his conspirators took numerous actions to conceal their illegal activities, including creating false invoices, transshipping items through third-party countries, such as Laos and the United Arab Emirates, using bank accounts in third-party countries, such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and the Emirates, and exporting items to intermediary companies which then reexported the items to the ultimate end destinations. As part of his guilty plea, Chistyakov also agreed to the imposition of a personal forfeiture judgment against him.
Chistyakov faces a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 10, 2026.
