The former owner of a Kansas avionics company has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for his involvement in a scheme to illegally export aviation technology to Russia. According to the Justice Department, Cyril Gregory Buyanovsky, 63, of Lawrence, Kansas, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and money laundering related to the sale of controlled avionics equipment without the required export licenses.
Buyanovsky was formerly president of KanRus Trading Company, which continued supplying Russian customers after the United States tightened export restrictions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine beginning in 2022. Federal prosecutors said the company concealed the intended recipients of its shipments and used intermediaries in other countries to circumvent export controls.
Yearslong Export Scheme
According to an earlier DOJ announcement, Buyanovsky admitted that he, along with associates, exported a repaired TCAS to the Russian Federal Security Service in 2021. Conspirators removed identifying markings before having the equipment repaired by a U.S. company. Once repairs were made, the equipment was returned to Russia. According to investigation findings, the group also utilized false export documentation, along with routing payments through foreign bank accounts.
Three Defendants Sentenced
“The defendants ignored those laws and saw the war not as a humanitarian crisis, but as a business opportunity to boost their profits,” U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser said in the September sentencing announcement.
Buyanovsky agreed to forfeit more than $450,000 in avionics equipment and accessories, along with a $50,000 personal forfeiture judgment. His sentencing follows the convictions of two associates. Former KanRus Vice President Douglas Robertson received a 32-month prison sentence in June, while Latvian broker Oleg Chistyakov was sentenced to 28 months. The FBI and Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement investigated the case, assisted by Latvian authorities and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
