A creative New Hampshire husband with an Etsy store was charged with a conspiracy to send Russia high-tech equipment used in nuclear weapons. Alexey Brayman, along with others, allegedly ran an international ring that smuggled technology suited for nuclear weapons into Europe and then Russia.

FBI counterintelligence agents raided the New Hampshire home before charges were filed.

Brayman, who lives in a suburban neighborhood with his wife Daria in Merrimack, New Hampshire, runs an Etsy craft store with his wife, plus a night light company. He is now charged with conspiracy to send sensitive technology to Russia that can be used to create nuclear weapons.

Mrs. Brayman said she knew nothing of the alleged crimes, and that they “ do festivals and craft fairs.”

Brayman is named in a 16-count indictment, with charges including conspiracy, money laundering, smuggling, plus wire and bank fraud. His alleged co-conspirators include Yevgeniy Grinin, Aleksey Ippolitov, Boris Livshits, Svetlana Skvortsova, Vadim Konoshchenok and Vadim Yermolenko.

Prosecutors claim Brayman used his Etsy online store to create, sell and ship “advanced electronics and sophisticated test equipment used in quantum computing, hypersonic and nuclear weapons development, and other military and space-based military applications.”

Court documents, unsealed and shared by the Boston Globe, state the sophisticated equipment could “make a significant contribution to the military potential or nuclear proliferation of other nations or could be detrimental to the … national security of the United States.”

Prosecutors say Brayman had the high-tech items shipped to his home in New Hampshire and then shipped them to Europe, where the products were then sent to Russia. As the Ukraine war continues, it is rumored that more weapons are needed in Russia due to declining numbers of supplies.

In a strange twist of fate, Brayman lists the place of his birth as Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.

Since Russia launched a war in Ukraine, the US has created severe sanctions against Russia, banning products that can be used for weapons. Some of the items Brayman sent to Russia include high-tech items such as semiconductors and oscilloscopes, which can both be used in weaponry.

Prosecutors describe a plot right out of a James Bond movie. Brayman would receive numerous packages to his New Hampshire home, sent to him by co-conspirators who own Russian firms. The packages each have parts of the high-tech items. Brayman would then ship the devices to Germany and Estonia. Both countries, as the unsealed documents state, are “common transshipment points for items ultimately destined for Russia.”

Investigators set up a sting, tracking shipped packages, collecting evidence such as emails and shipping documents, and working with a confidential source.

The alleged plot began in 2017, and investigators describe a network including numerous front companies, fake shipping documents, and piecemeal deliveries created to keep authorities at bay.

Brayman was released on $150,000 bail. Authorities took his passport, and he must abide by travel restrictions and a curfew.