KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Lawrence business owner admitted to illegally exporting aviation technology to Russia from 2020 until March 2023, when he was arrested.
Cyril Gregory Buyanovsky, 60, was indicted by the feds in March for the crimes alongside Douglas Robertson, a 55-year-old man from Olathe.
The pair committed the crimes under the KanRus Trading Company, a company they co-owned and operated.
Buyanovsky admitted that he filed phony export forms and failed to file export forms while smuggling the technology to users in Russia, as well as Russians in other countries.
He admitted to maneuvering around export policies to Russia that were implemented by the U.S. government after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Buyanovsky continued to buy and export aviation technology to customers in Russia despite the rules.
They hid the illegal activity by lying to U.S. suppliers about who was receiving the equipment; exporting it through third-party countries and filing false reports among other things
Buyanovsky is facing 25 years in prison — five for a conspiracy charge and 20 years for a money laundering charged.
He's due back in court on March 21, 2024, to be sentenced.
Co-defendant Douglas Robertson is set for an arraignment hearing tomorrow, Dec. 20.
—
