US court issues arrest warrant for $25 million Rosneft plane US

The District COURT for the Eastern District of New York authorized the arrest of a Boeing 737-7JU aircraft worth about $25 million, which the US authorities consider the property of Rosneft, the US Department of Justice said. Violation of the law on export control and anti-Russian sanctions was cited as the reason.

This aircraft was last in the US in March 2014. As suggested by US authorities, he is now in RUSSIA, flying to or from it. Since February 2022, when export controls were tightened, the plane took off from Russia and returned to the country at least seven times, the US authorities consider this a violation of sanctions, as they provide for a ban on the transfer of American aircraft to Russia without obtaining a special license.

After the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, the US Department of Commerce has several times expanded the sanctions list of Russian aircraft, which are prohibited from service abroad as part of export controls. Currently, almost 200 aircraft of Russian companies and individuals are under US sanctions.

In addition, the US and the EU closed the skies for Russian aircraft, imposed restrictions on the export of aviation products to Russia, and demanded that all leased aircraft be returned to lessors. The Federal Air Transport Agency recommended that Russian airlines not operate flights abroad on foreign leased aircraft, and Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed to transfer foreign-leased aircraft to the Russian register.