SBU detains Motor Sich head suspected of supplying military equipment to Russia

Motor Sich employees work at the enterprise's helicopter final assembly shop in Zaporizhzhia on May 18, 2021. (Dmytro Smoliyenko / Ukrinform / Future Publishing via Getty Images)

Ukrainian authorities detained Viacheslav Bohuslaiev, the head of Motor Sich, one of the world's leading manufacturers of aircraft engines based in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) reported on Oct. 23. Bohuslaiev is suspected of collaborating with Russia.

According to the SBU, Bohuslaiev's arrest is "part of the criminal case on the Motor Sich's illegal supply of military equipment for Russian attack aircraft."

Apart from Bohuslaiev, the SBU also detained the head of the foreign economic activities department at Motor Sich, not mentioning his name.

The detained are accused of cooperating with representatives of the Russian state-owned "Rostec" defense enterprise, "one of the main producers of weapons for the Russian military."

They have established "transnational channels for the illegal supply of Ukrainian aircraft engines" to Russia, the SBU said, adding that Russia used the obtained equipment for the "production and repair" of its attack helicopters Mi-8, Ka-52, and Mi-28. According to the SBU, Russia has used such helicopters "en masse" against Ukraine.