Counter-intelligence officers from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), together with military personnel from the State Border Guard Service and Kharkiv customs officers, foiled an attempt to smuggle military goods to Russia without export license.
The operatives received information that a resident of Kharkiv region had illegally acquired parts for aircraft equipment. The man was planning to move the hardware across the border without necessary licensing documentation, the SBU press service said on July 26.
“Law enforcers detained the culprit at the Kharkiv train station during customs control. Among his personal belongings they found parts for fuel-regulating equipment of aviation devices. Specialists concluded that said devices were intended for repairing military and military transport helicopters [Mil] Mi-8 and Mi-24 and are classed as military goods whose international transfer requires the permission of the State Export Control Service of Ukraine,” the statement said.
Kharkiv regional investigators have opened a criminal case under Article 333 part one (violation of the rules for the international transfer of goods subject to export control) and will soon declare the man a suspect.
Ukraine has had no military-technical cooperation with Russia since August 2014, which was ended in accordance with Ukraine’s presidential decree and a decision by the National Security and Defense Council.
