Caught up in the whole mess of Mueller probe, Maria Butina, the Russian gun rights activist, has become a point of the investigation by the overseas nationals in the USA. These officials have connections to the foreign capitals and are some of the essential American Businessmen. Butina befriended some of the important American people, namely a Washington insider Paul Erikson, a think tank Dmitri Simes, as well as some additional, prominent Washingtonians. With this friendship, she grew on to become the Russian doorkeeper as well as a go-to-person in Washington.
During the movement of ‘Right to Bear Arms,’ she showed up on the radar screen of Promtechnologii, an ammunition producer. In 2015, she also escorted an American NRA delegate to the entity’s plant in Russia. That time, Promtechnologii was busy with growing rifles for anticipated federal government agreements, which failed to materialize beyond a small sample order for protection services. Despite this, the company’s service ended up having pro-Russian separatists in Donbass. Not just this, the company also provided Promtechnologii with the desired publicity in Russia’s Federation.
The business was set up in 2010 by the former minister of Open Federal Government Circumstances of Russia, Mikhail Abyzov, and the billionaire co-owner of Globaltrans, Konstantin Nikolaev. That time Mikhail Abyzov met with Vladimir Putin, Russia’s then Prime Minister, at the Promtechnologii booth to showcase the products of the company.
Later on, Mikhail Abyzov emigrated to the West, leaving behind the gun organization, and developed Bright Capital Fund, a high tech investment vehicle, to handle his fortune. He also started investing in the hi-tech organizations of USA. But nevertheless, his connection with Maria Butina was solidified.
Butina also relocated to the USA and started developing connections with NRA professionals and GOP authorities with the help of her lover. She started advertising Russian firearms and guns in Washington, one of the items being Abyzov organization’s sniper rifles. Currently, she is spending 18 months’ sentence in the federal prison, convicted of becoming an unregistered overseas agent.
But nevertheless, the participation of Abyzov in the USA investigation, as well as the development industry sustained. In 2011, his company, Bright Capital, spent $75 million on Alta Devices that created flexible solar power panels to mount on drones, airplanes, and so on. These solar panels helped the devices to stay afloat for a longer time.
In 2016, Bright Capital relocated to Silicon Valley’s Ukrainian software program start-up, Augmented Pixels. This company creates automated navigation algorithms for UAV and drones and is targeted on building augmented technology. Such technologies are used in training Specific Forces and developing guidance accuracies for UAV.
In 2018, Mikhail Chuchkevich, the supervisor of Bright Capital, was caught in Russia on the uncertainty of embezzlement. As per the Investigative Committee of Russia, he had stolen $20 million from the Russian Venture Organization through Alion Power, the US-based company. Alion Power produces robots for automated assembly of solar power photovoltaic (PV) plants. Bright Capital was the first investor of the company and had invested $15 million.
Regardless of the numerous achievements he had abroad, Abyzov was caught in Moscow when he attended his friend’s birthday celebrations. His arrest can be a part of Kremlin strategy against those people who are linked to the Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and his allies. Numerous bureaucratic strikes and law-enforcement companies are against the Medvedev’s clan.
Remember the Russian rifles that finished up in the fingers of pro-Russian separatists battling the Ukrainian army in Donbass? Abyzov’s drone technology will come handy in that conflict, wherever UAVs are important. Besides this, Abyzov was also excited about cutting edge U.S. technology having armed forces applications. Many times previously, the FBI had cautioned several US organizations against the intentions of the Russian oligarchs, which might have been more than just impacting financial revenue.
Despite all this, the curiosity of Russia and China about US high tech army programs might continue without any hindrance.
