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A man living in suburban America used his online craft store as a front to ship “advanced electronics” used for nuclear weapons to Russia, US prosecutors have alleged.
Alexey Brayman was charged with being part of an international smuggling ring sending components for weapons to be used in Moscow’s illegal war against Ukraine.
The spy scandal was compared to the plot of TV spy drama The Americans, which tells the story of two KGB officers posing as a US couple during the Cold War.
Mr Brayman shipped the technology, along with other goods from his Etsy craft shop CoolHouzGifts, from his Merrimack home in New Hampshire, according to federal documents.
The items included “advanced electronics and sophisticated testing equipment used in quantum computing, hypersonic and nuclear weapons development and other military and space-based military applications,” prosecutors said.
A Ukrainian expat, Mr Brayman ran the online store and a night lights business with his Russian wife Daria, who has not been accused of any crime. They were described locally as “the nicest couple”.
“We do craft festivals and fairs,” Daria told local media, as she denied any knowledge of her husband’s alleged espionage.
“They did get a lot of packages. Which I guess makes sense now,” Amy Goodridge, who lives across the street from the Braymans, told the Boston Globe.
Mr Brayman, who faces up to 30 years in prison if found guilty, lists Kyiv as his hometown on Facebook, and the unassuming store owner outwardly sympathised with Ukraine after Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
He is accused of working with six other people, including five Russians, to secretly export equipment like semiconductors and oscilloscopes.
It is alleged the devices would be sent across the world before eventually finding their way to Russia, which is subject to Western sanctions and export controls limiting the Kremlin’s access to technology for weapons.
“As alleged, the defendants perpetrated a sophisticated procurement network that illegally obtained sensitive US technology to facilitate the Russian war machine,” US Attorney Breon Peace said.
The charges said the smuggling ring created shell companies and bank accounts in the New York City area to buy the technology from US companies.
Mr Brayman would then allegedly fake shipping documents and invoices at his home, which was reportedly used as a clearing house because the incoming and outgoing packages would not raise suspicions.
Federal attorneys said he frequently sent packages to a conspirator in Estonia, who would move them into neighbouring Russia.
Officials put a tracking device on one package in July, which was addressed to Germany. It moved from Nevada to Mr Brayman’s house before it was intercepted at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The authorities raided Mr Brayman’s house shortly afterwards. Prosecutors have asked for him to be held on $250,000 bail and forfeit his passport because he is a flight risk.
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