Accused of smuggling night vision devices extradited to America

The Vilnius District Court yesterday granted the request of the Lithuanian Prosecutor General's Office to extradite 47-year-old Russian Dmitry Ustinov to the United States. Mr. Ustinov was detained in Vilnius in April of this year at the request of American intelligence services, who stated that the Russian had arrived in Lithuania to negotiate a deal on the sale of night vision devices formally prohibited from being exported from the United States.

In the United States, Russian Dmitry Ustinov is suspected of illegal trade in military optics
Photo: Kirill Chakhovsky, Kommersant / buy photo

Authorities in the American state of Delaware accuse Dmitry Ustinov of exporting optical equipment, which was included in the list of weapons not subject to export from the United States, and also smuggling it and laundering proceeds of crime, together with some unnamed accomplices. The extradition request sent to Lithuania states that between July 2010 and October 2012, Mr. Ustinov illegally acquired and exported at least 13 pieces of such equipment, including an L3 thermal monocular, thermal videoscopes, D-740 and D night vision optics -760 and the third generation PVS-14 night vision device, which are used by the US Army. Thus, in June 2010, Dmitry Ustinov, who allegedly maintained close contacts with certain unnamed individuals from the countries of the former USSR and who “paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for optics that are in great demand among terrorists and killers,” wrote an email to one of his accomplices with request to purchase optical night vision equipment for him. An employee of the Lithuanian Ministry of Regional Defense, summoned to court as an expert, indicated that some of the equipment that interested Mr. Ustinov had a military purpose.

The Vilnius court found unsubstantiated Mr. Ustinov’s claims that the optics he purchased were widely used among civilian hunters and that the case brought against him in the United States clearly had political overtones. Dmitry Ustinov introduced himself as the owner of a weapons store in Moscow. The Russian did not agree with the charges and the offer to voluntarily agree to extradition to the United States. “I do not agree to be extradited to the United States. I did not commit the crimes that I am accused of committing,” he said in court. The decision taken by the Vilnius District Court can be appealed to the Lithuanian Court of Appeal within one week. The latter's decision will be final. According to Vilnius lawyers, there is practically no hope that a higher court will refuse to extradite the Russian.

Let us note that in the USA such optical devices can be purchased completely freely, but the buyer must sign a document stating that he will not take them out of the country without government permission.

Vladimir Vodo, Vilnius

A citizen of the Russian Federation is allowed to be exported from Lithuania