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Russian national Vadim Konoshchenok extradited from Estonia to US

The man is said to be a "Russian intelligence operative" explicitly identifying himself as an FSB "colonel"

NEW YORK, July 14. /TASS/. Russian national Vadim Konoshchenok, who is charged with smuggling electronics for the Russian military, has been extradited from Estonia to the United States and will face court later in the day, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said on Friday.

In case the man, who is said to be a "Russian intelligence operative," is found guilty, he may face a prison term of up to 30 years.

In late 2022, the US judicial authorities reported that Alexey Braiman and Vadim Yermolenko had been arrested in the United States and that Vadim Konoshchenok had been detained in Estonia on December 6. According to US investigators, "in electronic communications, Konoshchenok explicitly identified himself as an FSB "Colonel" and enclosed a photograph of himself wearing his FSB uniform." The search of a storage facility registered in the name of Konoshchenok’s son yielded around 170 kilograms of cartridges of various calibers. Yermolenko and Bairamov are said to have smuggled electronics and other equipment into Estonia for Konoshchenok.

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