Russian national arrested in US for illegal export of drone technology to Russia, DOJ says

(Reuters) - A Russian national residing in Sarasota, Florida, was arrested on Monday on charges of smuggling, money laundering and illegally exporting to Russia technology that could be used in drone production, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

The indictment alleges that following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Denis Postovoy, 44, procured and illicitly exported to Russia microelectronic components with military applications that could be used in drones, the DOJ said in a statement on its website.

"According to the indictment, this defendant illegally exported dual-use technology to Russia that could bolster its capabilities to wage its unprovoked war against Ukraine," U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves said in the statement.

The Russian embassy in the United States said on the Telegram messaging app that it was aware of Postovoy's detention, but that it has not "received any official notification of the arrest from local law enforcement agencies."

Postovoy allegedly operated through a network of companies in Russia and Hong Kong to purchase components from U.S. distributors and ship them to Russia using intermediary destinations to conceal the shipments' final destination, the DOJ said.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Jamie Freed)