Montreal woman pleads guilty in U.S. to helping export weapon components to Russia

United States prosecutors say a Montreal woman has pleaded guilty to being part of a scheme to illegally export electronic components to Russia for military use.

Federal prosecutors in New York City say Kristina Puzyreva pleaded guilty on Monday to money laundering conspiracy.

U.S. authorities say Puzyreva and two alleged co-conspirators purchased electronic components that have both civilian and military uses and cannot be legally exported to Russia.

They say those components were routed through a series of front companies in order to get around U.S. sanctions against Russia for that country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Court filings say some of those electronic components have been found in drones, missiles and signal intelligence equipment captured on the battlefield in Ukraine.

Puzyreva’s two alleged co-conspirators — Salimdzhon Nasriddinov and her husband, Nikolay Goltsev — have pleaded not guilty.