Belarusian Citizen Convicted in U.S. of Violating Sanctions by Supplying Mass Spectrometer to Russia

Reform.news Editorial Team · 24 September 2026, 14:09

https://reform.news/en/belarusian-citizen-convicted-in-u-s-of-violating-sanctions-by-supplying-mass-spectrometer-to-russia/

A federal jury in Boston found 37-year-old Kirill Gordei, a dual citizen of Belarus and the United States, guilty of illegally exporting an Orbitrap Exploris GC 240 mass spectrometer from the United States to Russia without a license. The Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office reported this.

He is due to be sentenced on Jan. 12, 2027. Gordei was found guilty on three counts: conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, smuggling goods, and exporting goods subject to trade controls. The maximum penalty for the export control violation is up to 20 years in prison; the smuggling charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years, while the conspiracy charge carries a maximum of five years. Substantial fines may also be imposed.

Gordei was arrested in late June 2024. He ran Apelsin Logistics, a freight forwarding company based in Hallandale Beach, Florida. The company had an address in Russia and two websites hosted in Russia.

According to the indictment, on or about Aug. 11, 2023, Gordei declared that he was shipping the Orbitrap Exploris GC 240 mass spectrometer to Uzbekistan, when in fact the equipment was destined for Russia. The equipment is worth more than $600,000 and was added to the list of controlled goods after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A special license is required to export such goods to Russia, which Gordei did not have. The defendant also arranged for the mass spectrometer to be delivered to Moscow via Turkey, where the equipment was initially shipped from the United States.