Latvian national extradited in Russian export scheme with Kansas men

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that a Latvian man made his first appearance in federal court today in Kansas City, Kansas. He’s facing charges in a years-long scheme to send avionics equipment to Russian companies.

According to court documents, Oleg Christyakov, of Latvia, conspired to facilitate the repair, shipment and sale of U.S. avionics equipment with two Kansas men, Cyril Gregory Buyanovsky, 61, and Douglas Edward Robertson, 56. Court documents also say that the scheme included customers from Russia and other countries that operate Russian aircraft, including the Federal Security Service of Russia .

Buyanovsky and Robertson were both charged and arrested in March of 2023 and will be sentenced on November 14 and October 3 respectively.

Court documents say that Christyakov operated 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. The three avoided U.S. export laws by purchasing equipment from U.S. companies for customers in Russia.

Christyakov apparently acted as a broker or a middleman for KanRus by providing quotes and negotiating prices and delivery. He and his conspirators tried to hide their activities by creating false invoices, transshipping items through third-party countries and exporting items to intermediary companies which then reexported them.

Documents claim that Christyakov is being charged with conspiracy, Export Control Reform Act violations and smuggling and money laundering violations. If convicted, he will face a max penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

Many of those involved with Christyakov’s scheme were added to the Commerce Department’s Entity List last December. This creates license requirements on transactions made.

The FBI and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security are investigating this case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Rask and Ryan Huschka for the District of Kansas and Trial Attorney Adam Barry of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting this case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with Latvian authorities to secure the extradition of Chistyakov.

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