WASHINGTON, Dec 13 US seeks extradition from Estonia of detainee there Russian citizen Vadim Konoshchenko, who they consider to be a Russian intelligence officer, follows from the court materials, which were made public on Tuesday without evidence of his belonging to the special services. and Konoshchenok are suspected of purchasing Western military and dual-use products for end consumers in Russia in circumvention of US sanctions.
«The defendant Vadim Konoshchenko was also taken into custody in Estonia and will be extradited to the United States… Konoshenok is suspected of being an active member of Russian intelligence,» the document says.
To the materials A photograph of a man in the uniform of an FSB colonel was attached to the court.
«In the e-mail correspondence, Konoshchenko openly called himself a 'colonel' of the Russian Federal Security Service, the successor to the Soviet KGB,» the court file says.
Bryman has a permanent residence permit in the United States, Yermolenko has American citizenship, it follows from the documents. The prosecutor's office offered to release Bryman and Yermolenko on bail of $250,000 and half a million dollars.
Konoschenok was detained on October 27 while trying to leave Estonia for Russia with, according to the prosecutor's office, «about 35 different types of semiconductors and electronic components, some of which had of American origin and were subject to export controls.» The prosecutor's office suspects that Konoshchenok received such products from Bryman, who allegedly used front companies and bank accounts opened by Yermolenko.
The US authorities name the procurement network Serniya and claim, without citing evidence, that it was supervised by Russian intelligence services . Four Russians living in the Russian Federation are also suspected of belonging to it — Evgeny Grinin, Alexei Ippolitov, Boris Livshits and Svetlana Skvortsova. All of them were charged in September, but were only made public on Tuesday.