32-year-old Kristina Puzyreva’s Instagram is full of shots you’ve seen before from globetrotting millennial influencers: posing in front of hay bale, holding the hand of a man as she leads him to a majestic ruin, and doing yoga in resplendent nature. The only thing that makes it interesting is context. Puzyreva just pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme where she shipped millions of dollars worth of U.S. electronics to Russia for use in missiles and drones.“Kristina Puzyreva and her co-defendants allegedly purchased and dispatched millions of dollars in U.S.-sourced electronics to support the Kremlin in its ongoing attacks of Ukraine. Her money laundering conspiracy was directly linked to 298 shipments of restricted technology, valued at $7 million, to the Russian battlefield,” Erin Keegan, a Special Agent in charge of the investigation, said in a Justice Department press release on Monday.The world runs on semiconductors, and many of the world’s best are produced by American companies. Chips are vital to every country’s military and Russia has expended vast amounts of its stock in missiles, drones, and other munitions in its war in Ukraine. After Moscow escalated its war in 2022, Washington tightened sanctions against it. Despite these trade restrictions, recently manufactured U.S. semiconductors kept appearing in Russia weapons in Ukraine.The case against Puzyreva and her associates reveals how some of the electronics made it overseas. Puzyreva and her husband, Nikolay Goltsev, lived in Montreal, Canada and did business with Salimdzhon Nasriddinov in Brooklyn. According to the DOJ, The couple would fly to NYC from Canada, buy electronics through shell companies, and then ship them to Russia. Many of the shipped parts had serial numbers, which made it easy to link the parts and shipments back to the trio.The three co-conspirators were arrested at the end of October, 2023. According to the feds, Puzyreva and her husband made a lot of money shipping electronics to Russia. According to court documents, she complained about needing to set up 80 different accounts to hold $3 million to a co-conspirator. “Fingers hurting already from the laptop,” the husband told Puzreyva in a 2023 text.“Lot of money?” He responded. “We will get rich.” When the feds raided Puzyreva’s New York Hotel room, they seized $20,000 in cash. Motherboard found Puzyreva’s Instagram account, which has a profile photo that is also found on a Facebook profile that has been tied to her by other reporters. hasn't been updated since October 21, roughly ten days before her arrest. The weeks up until the moment she got caught paint a picture of a couple living the influencer’s dream and traveling the world while raking in profits by helping Russia evade sanctions. In one set of photos, Puzyreva poses outside of a church in Bergamo, Italy. “#bergamo #italy #italy_vacations# gorgeouscountry# happybirthdaytome# selfie#,” the caption reads.In another, she posed on the Brooklyn Bridge, her back to the camera and her arms spread wide. “#nyc #brooklynbridge #dumbobrooklyn #goingout #ilovethiscity #enjoylife#.”In a selfie from June 22, 2022—the same day 7 Russian missiles slammed into the Ukrainian city of Mykovia—she posed and took pictures of herself at a mall. Puzyreva pleaded guilty but has yet to be sentenced. Her husband and Nasriddinov are still awaiting trial.
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