Oleh Borsuk, 61, previously worked in a laboratory in Ukraine’s defense sector, resigned in 2009, and fled to Russia where, according to a report by the Security Service (SBU), he became a lead developer of navigation for Russian cruise and ballistic missiles.
The SBU said that after moving to Moscow, Borsuk eventually became the Deputy General Director of the Navis design bureau, one of the leading companies in the Russian military-industrial complex.
It is alleged that he is responsible for overseeing the development of GPS/GLONASS-based navigation systems for Russian cruise and ballistic missiles. In this capacity, according to the SBU, in 2023 alone, his department produced more than 3,000 satellite navigation units used in Iskander, Kh-101, Kh-59, and Kalibr missiles.
These missiles have been repeatedly used in attacks against Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, towns, and cities, causing numerous casualties and widespread damage since the start of Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion.
These included a massive missile attack on multiple Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Slovyansk, and Kramatorsk on July 8, 2024, during which a Kh-101 missile struck Kyiv’s Ohmatdyt children’s hospital, killing two and injuring more than 50, most of them children
Another incident referred to by the SBU was another large-scale drone and missile attack on June 17 this year, when, according to Ukraine’s Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat, another Kh-101 hit a nine-story apartment block in the Ukrainian capital that killed 30 and injured more than 170.
The SBU says that, because of this and numerous other instances of missiles using navigation systems he was responsible for, it has charged Borsuk in absentia for acts of treason committed under martial law contrary to Ukrainian law, saying:
“Since the perpetrator is hiding on the territory of the Russian Federation, comprehensive measures are underway to bring him to justice for crimes against our state.”