By Karen Freifeld
(Reuters) -Two Americans were arrested in Kansas City for allegedly sending U.S. aviation technology to Russia in violation of U.S. export controls, U.S. Commerce Department official Matthew Axelrod said on Thursday.
When Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the U.S. and other countries implemented export controls to restrict Russia’s access to technologies and other items that could support its war machine.
The controls target Russia’s defense, aerospace, and maritime sectors, and were expanded to include Russia’s oil refining, industrial, and commercial sectors, and luxury goods.
Axelrod, the assistant secretary of commerce for export enforcement, disclosed the arrests at an American Bar Association event in Miami, Florida.
He did not provide details on the arrests, but said the Commerce Department was working with the FBI and Justice Department prosecutors.
(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Leslie Adler and Marguerita Choy)
