Last month, three people were charged in Ohio for illegally exporting aircraft components from the US to Russia. This comes amidst a severe crisis in Russian civil aviation due to Western sanctions that have made it difficult to import plane components, leading to an uptick in the smuggling of US aircraft parts into Russia. The three defendants, employees of Flighttime Enterprises, an American subsidiary of a Russian company, allegedly shipped goods to Russia without the required licenses. The US Department of Justice announced the charges on 13 February, revealing that four plane parts valued at over $2 million were exported without necessary controls. The indictment stated that the defendants knowingly violated export restrictions by using intermediary companies to conceal the final destination of the goods. US Attorney Kenneth L. Parker emphasized that the US will not tolerate export violations or smuggling to any part of the world, including Russia. With US-made Boeing and EU-made Airbus planes making up two-thirds of Russia’s commercial fleet, the country has been struggling to obtain the necessary parts to maintain its aircraft, leading to a sharp increase in plane failures and risks to passenger safety. The crisis in Russian civil aviation underscores the impact of Western sanctions and the challenges faced by the industry in obtaining essential components.
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