The SSU has disrupted another channel of financing illicit armed formations in the East of Ukraine. As a result of a counterintelligence operation in Kyiv, the SSU blocked the activities of a commercial entity, which remitted almost UAH 8 mln (USD 224,000) to the ‘budget’ of the so-called DNR.

The occupation administration received the money as ‘taxes’ from a pharmacy network operating in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The terrorists used this money to provide logistics to militant groups involved in russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine.

It was established that two managers of a Kyiv enterprise who owned over 50 pharmacies in temporarily occupied Donetsk were involved in this unlawful activity. They ‘re-registered’ the outlets to run the illegal businesses.

In their Kyiv office, the law enforcement found evidence of financial and economic activities in the so-called ‘DNR’.

Both organizers of the scheme have been notified of suspicion of the crime under Article 258-5.2 (terrorism financing) of the CCU. The court is to decide on the measure of restraint.

The SSU carried out the operation under the procedural supervision of Kyiv Region Prosecutor’s Office.