Belarusian woman pleads guilty to exporting U.S. aircraft parts to Russia
A Belarusian woman has pleaded guilty in Washington, D.C. to illegally exporting U.S.-origin aircraft components to Russia shortly after the invasion of Ukraine, using false paperwork, shell companies and foreign intermediaries, according to federal prosecutors.
Yana Leonova, 33, a Belarusian citizen who most recently lived in Russia, pleaded guilty on Wednesday in U.S. District Court to violating the Export Control Reform Act, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Leonova, also known as Yana Liavonava, is scheduled to be sentenced on August 10.
According to court documents and statements during the plea hearing, Leonova worked with co-conspirators in the United States and Armenia to obtain aircraft components from U.S.-based distributors beginning in May 2022, after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Prosecutors said Leonova and the others repeatedly concealed or misstated the true end users and destinations of the aircraft parts by submitting false information on documents.
The components were then transshipped to Russia through companies in Armenia and elsewhere without required licenses. Payments in U.S. dollars were also sent from foreign bank accounts to bank accounts in the United States.
The exported items were intended for private aircraft operated or maintained by Leonova’s former employer, a company listed by the U.S. Department of Commerce for activities contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.
“Anyone who thinks they can exploit U.S. supply chains to arm our adversaries should look carefully at what happened to Yana Leonova,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said. “Leonova used shell companies, false paperwork, and foreign intermediaries to conceal the unlawful export of U.S.-origin aircraft components to Russia.”
Leonova was extradited to the United States from France in November 2025 in connection with the case.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
