Washington DC - The US has laid charges against nearly a dozen people and several companies after it uncovered two separate global schemes to export technologies to Russia, in violation of US export and sanctions laws.

The US Justice Department said some of the "powerful, civil-military, dual-use technologies" had been found on the battlefields in Ukraine, while another nuclear proliferation technology was intercepted before reaching Russian soil.

In one case, five Russian nationals and two oil brokers for Venezuela were charged for their alleged participation in a global sanctions evasion and money laundering scheme.

According to court documents, one defendant, Yury Orekhov, a Russia national residing in Germany, served as chief executive of Nord-Deutsche Industrieanlagenbau GmbH in Hamburg.

Orekhov and a business partner "sourced and purchased sensitive military and dual-use technologies" from US manufacturers, the department alleged.

The items, including advanced semiconductors and microprocessors used in aircraft, satellites, and missile systems, were shipped to Russian end users.

Orekhov also allegedly used the business as a front to smuggle oil from Venezuela to Russian and Chinese purchasers, including a Russian aluminum company controlled by a sanctioned oligarch and the world's largest oil refining, gas, and petrochemical conglomerate based in Beijing.

The scheme also involved falsified shipping documents and supertankers that deactivated their GPS navigation systems to obscure the Venezuelan origin of their oil, the department said.

"As alleged, the defendants obtained military technology from U.S. companies, smuggled millions of barrels of oil, and laundered tens of millions of dollars for Russian industrialists, sanctioned entities, and the world's largest energy conglomerate," the department said.

In the second case, four people and two companies in Europe were charged with violating US export laws by attempting to smuggle a high-precision computer-controlled grinding machine to Russia.

Commonly known as a "jig grinder," the item is export-controlled for its use in nuclear proliferation and defense programs.

The indictments and arrests highlight the FBI's work to counter "Russia's flagrant evasion of U.S. sanctions and violation of export regulations," FBI director Christopher Wray said.

"The FBI, along with our U.S. and international partners, will continue to aggressively disrupt the procurement of oil, laundered money, and unlawfully obtained military technology from U.S. companies to support Russia's unprovoked war in Ukraine."