Israeli charged in US for smuggling components used in nukes to Russia

US prosecutors claimed the group worked with two Moscow-based companies controlled by Russian intelligence services to acquire electronic components in the US that have civilian uses, but can also be used to help make nuclear and hypersonic weapons and in quantum computing, Times of Israel reported.

One of those indicted is 35-year-old Alexey Brayman, who holds Israeli citizenship but is a resident of Merrimack, New Hampshire.

According to The Boston Globe, Brayman was born in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. The court agreed at a hearing on the charges that he would be allowed to return to his New Hampshire home, but he was fitted with a location tracker.

The indictment, cited by CBS, said Brayman “repeatedly used the New Hampshire residence as a transshipment point for repackaging sensitive military-grade and export-controlled items and forwarding them to intermediate locations in Europe and Asia, from where they were transshipped to Russia.”

The Boston Globe said prosecutors charged the equipment “could make a significant contribution to the military potential or nuclear proliferation of other nations or that could be detrimental to the… national security of the United States.”

The Merrimack, New Hampshire home of Alexey Brayman (Screengrab via Daily Mail used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

According to the newspaper, supplies smuggled through the Drayman family home included semiconductors — key to producing the ballistic missiles that Russia has deployed to deadly effect in Ukraine.

The exporting of the technology involved in the case is heavily regulated and occurred in violation of US sanctions, according to a 16-count indictment unsealed Monday in Brooklyn.