BK Man Sent Drone Components To Help Russia In War With Ukraine: Feds

BROOKLYN, NY – A 36-year-old Brooklyn man pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the U.S. after he schemed to ship electronic components used in drones to companies affiliated with the Russian military, federal prosecutors said.

Nikolay Grigorev admitted his role in the scheme Tuesday during a hearing a Brooklyn federal courthouse, authorities said. Two other men accused of being in the scheme — Nikita Arkhipov and Artem Oloviannikov — remain on the loose, authorities said.

The trio used Grigorev's Brooklyn-based entity, Quality Life Cue LLC, to obtain dual-use electronic components for Russians involved in drone development and manufacture for the war in Ukraine, prosecutors said.

“Grigorev admitted today that he conspired to supply Russia with U.S.-sourced, dual-use technologies, knowing full well that his actions violated export controls and sanctions designed to stop those items from being sent to Russia and used in the production of drones like those found on the battlefields in Ukraine,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace, in a statement.

Between Oct. 22, 2021, and Feb. 22, 2022, Quality Life Cue received more than $272,000 in wire transactions from SMT-iLogic, a Russia-based technology company that has ties to the Special Technology Centre, or STC, prosecutors said.

STC was banned from doing business with the U.S. in 2016, authorities said.

STC was involved in the production of the “Sea Eagle Orlan 10 UAV,” a drone that has been involved in Russian military operations in Ukraine, according to prosecutors.

In email and chat communications, the trio discussed their efforts to circumvent U.S. export restrictions, including through the use of front companies in third countries, such as Kazakhstan, and they also forwarded invoices listing SMT-iLogic as the recipient of semiconductors and other electronic components, according to an indictment.

In June 2023, federal authorities raided Grigorev’s home in Brooklyn and found over 11,500 electronic components that were going to be shipped to Russia, prosecutors said.

Grigorev will be sentenced on Aug. 14, according to online court records. He faces up to five years in prison.