The SSU Counterintelligence has shut down a transnational channel of unlawful export of combat aircraft components from Ukraine.

As a result of an operation carried out in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Zaporizhzhia, the SSU detained the organizer of the illicit traffic and two of his accomplices.

The dealers tried to illegally sell a batch of spare parts for aircraft engines worth almost UAH 2.5 mln (USD 66,000) to Asian customers. These components had been stolen from the industrial giant Motor Sich.

The traffickers planned to smuggle the items out of Ukraine to their foreign clients concealing them from customs control.

One of the components was a radar unit for a MiG-29 fighter used for Friend or Foe identification by its air defence system.

The SSU apprehended one of the suspects ‘red-handed’ in Odesa oblast as he tried to smuggle aircraft products to an East Asian country through unrecognized Transnistria. The components were hidden in the technological cavities of his car.

According to the investigation, the organizer of the scheme is a businessman from Kharkiv. To find foreign clients, he placed ‘advertising’ ads on specialized Internet resources.

During the searches at the suspects’ homes, the SSU seized a large number of Ukrainian-made aircraft parts prepared for shipment abroad.

Based on the collected evidence, SSU investigators served the three detained individuals notices of suspicion under Article 333.1 of the CCU (violation of the procedure for international transfers of goods subject to state export control).

The investigation is ongoing to bring to justice all participants in the criminal activity, including those involved in theft of aircraft components from Ukrainian factories.

The SSU Office in Kharkiv region carried out the operation under the procedural supervision of the regional Prosecutor’s Office.