The Security Service of Ukraine exposed the leadership of the leading research and design institute of the oil profile in Kyiv in cooperation with the Russian Federation.
Points of attention
- Detained figures from a leading Kyiv research institute assisted Russia in reconstructing oil refineries damaged by Ukrainian drone attacks, with projects totaling nearly half a billion hryvnias.
- Cooperating with an aggressor state like Russia can have serious implications for Ukraine, including reputational harm and threats to national security.
- The detained officials are facing charges under Ukrainian criminal law for aiding an aggressor state, with a potential sentence of up to 12 years in prison with property confiscation.
- The investigation also uncovered a Ukrainian holding company's involvement in building a ship repair plant for Russian warships, amounting to almost 100 billion rubles in contracts with Russian customers.
- The case highlights the complexities of balancing economic interests with national security concerns amid ongoing conflicts between Ukraine and Russia.
Ukrainian scientists earned money by restoring the Russian oil refinery after drone attacks
Among those detained are the chairman of the board, two heads of specialized departments, as well as the chief engineer and one of the engineers of the capital institution.
According to the case materials, they helped the aggressor to restore their oil refineries, which suffered significant damage as a result of Ukrainian drone attacks.
At the request of the Russian Federation, officials prepared design and construction documentation for the reconstruction of three key refineries.
The total cost of Russian "contracts" amounted to almost half a billion hryvnias.
This amount also included remote support by designers of the technological processes of restoration and modernization of damaged refineries of the aggressor country.
Mobile phones, system units, laptops, flash drives, and draft records with evidence of cooperation with the Russian Federation were seized during searches of the office and residential premises of the defendants in Kyiv, Lviv, and Kharkiv.
On the basis of the received evidence, SBU investigators notified the five detained officials of the project institute of suspicion under Part 1 of Art. 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (assistance to the aggressor state).
Currently, four of them are already in custody. The investigation is ongoing. Perpetrators face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
A Ukrainian holding company is building a factory in Russia to repair warships
According to the investigation, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, an organized group led by a business owner concluded six contracts with Russian customers for a total amount of almost 100 billion rubles.
These are contracts for the construction of a ship repair plant for the maintenance of ships of the Novorossiysk Naval Base and the border management of the FSB.
They also implemented several projects related to the construction of the Moscow metro.
In addition, according to available data, the person involved plans to take a contract for the reconstruction of a shipyard in St. Petersburg for submarines of the aggressor country.
