Belarusian woman sentenced for exporting U.S. aircraft parts to Russia
A Belarusian woman has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for illegally exporting U.S. aircraft parts to Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, according to U.S. federal prosecutors. She has been ordered deported to Belarus after serving her sentence.
Yana Leonova, 34, who most recently lived in Russia, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Washington, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. She pleaded guilty in May to violating the Export Control Reform Act.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Leonova and co-conspirators in the United States and Armenia obtained aircraft components from U.S. distributors and shipped them to Russia through Armenia, according to court documents and her admissions during the plea hearing.
The scheme resulted in dozens of aircraft components being sent to Russia and millions of dollars being paid in return. The parts included avionics and other aircraft equipment.
Prosecutors said the route through Armenia was designed to conceal the final destination and evade U.S. export controls. Companies in Armenia re-exported the parts to Russia without the required licenses from the U.S. Commerce Department.
The components were intended for use on private jets and other aircraft operated or maintained by Leonova’s former employer. The company is identified on the Commerce Department’s Entity List for activities contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.
“She used shell companies, false documentation, foreign intermediaries, and overseas bank accounts to conceal the unlawful exports and evade U.S. sanctions,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said.
Leonova, also known as Yana Liavonava, was extradited from France to the United States in November 2025. The judge ordered her deportation to Belarus after she completes her prison sentence.
