Russian companies that have licenses with the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Defense Ministry advertise their commercial relationships with top US technology firms.

In some cases, Russian companies selling products equipped with US-manufactured software and hardware technologies won tenders with Kvant Scientific Research Institute, which was sanctioned by the US in June 2018 for “being owned or controlled by the FSB.”

The FSB was designated in December 2016 for assisting the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) with “tampering, altering, or causing a misappropriation of information with the purpose or effect of interfering with the 2016 U.S. election processes.”

The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017 (CAATSA) requires the US president to impose sanctions on actors engaged in a “significant transaction with a person that is part of, or operates for or on behalf of, the defense or intelligence sectors of the Government of the Russian Federation.”