A Russian national is currently being held in Weber County, Utah, after being arrested and charged with “conspiring against the United States, smuggling and violating the Arms Export Control Act”. All over what he claims are some manuals he was using to make a flight sim.




As the Standard-Examiner reports, from 2011-2015, Oleg Mikhaylovich Tishchenko was active on eBay purchasing manuals for actual USAF fighter jets. The problem was that, as a Russian, he was barred from purchasing the documents directly due to international restrictions, and so he employed the help of flight sim fans based in the US to bid on his behalf and then ship the manuals to him in Russia.

Tishchenko—who claimed he was an employee of Eagle Dynamics, developers of the DCS series, and that the manuals were to help with development of the ultra-realistic games—soon became the subject of an investigation by Homeland Security and the Air Force, and was actually charged back in 2016. He was only recently arrested this year when he travelled to Georgia, a country with an extradition agreement with the US.

It’s alleged that Tishchenko got hold of manuals for the F-16, F-35, F-22 and A-10, which he proceeded to list on eBay and sell again, to purchasers in “Cyprus, Japan, the Netherlands, Australia, Germany and Taiwan.”


An unnamed Texas man who assisted Tishchenko by purchasing manuals and sending them to him in Russia was also charged, but last week had his charges dropped.

We’ve contacted Eagle Dynamics to confirm whether Tishchenko is or was an employee of the studio.

UPDATE, May 16: In a statement on the Eagle Dynamics’ forums, senior producer Matt Wagner writes: