Motor Sich ex-head charged with preventing Ukrainian military from using helicopters
Vyacheslav Boguslayev (Photo:www.gp.gov.ua)
Former Motor Sich President Vyacheslav Boguslayev, who is suspected of working in the interests of Russia, has been charged with preventing the Armed Forces of Ukraine from using the helicopters, the Office of the Prosecutor General (PGO) reported on March 28.
Instead of supplying the Ukrainian government with Motor Sich helicopters after a formal request in April 2022, Boguslayev ordered company employees to dismantle the craft. It is believed that he ordered the helicopter blades to be removed and hidden.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate had asked Motor Sich to use an MI-2 helicopter for combat missions at the front, said Ukraine’s SBU security service.
Boguslayev also ordered that the helicopter’s technical documentation be hidden so that pilots could not get behind the wheel, said the PGO.
Boguslayev was charged with obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations (Article 114−1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The head of Motor Sich’s Department of Foreign Economic Activities developed a scheme for the supply of spare parts for the aircraft’s engines to come from the Snizhne Machine Building Plant, located in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, said the PGO.
To bypass restrictions, Motor Sich used foreign companies to supply raw materials in the form of blanks to the Snizhne plant, said the PGO. In return, Motor Sich received the spare parts for the aircraft engines.
“Thus, he (Boguslayev) contributed to the activities of the ‘DPR’ (‘Donetsk People’s Republic’) terrorist organization,” prosecutors said.
“He paid funds in its favor, so-called ‘taxes’, and ‘customs payments.’”
He has been charged with facilitating the activities of a terrorist organization (Article 258−3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The investigation into Boguslayev’s activities is ongoing on the following charges:
- collaborative activities
- assistance to the aggressor state
- obstructing the legal activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and military formations
- facilitating the activities of a terrorist organization (Article 111−1, Article 111−2, Article 114−1, Article 258−3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine)
An investigation is also underway on the head of the Motor Sich’s Department of Foreign Economic Activities for aiding the aggressor state and a terrorist organization (Article 111−2, Article 258−3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
NV reported on Oct. 22, 2022, that the SBU detained the honorary president of Motor Sich and former Party of Regions MP Vyacheslav Boguslayev in connection with the case of the company’s illegal supply of military products for Russian attack aircraft.
Boguslayev has been a Russian citizen since 2000, RFE/RL’s “Skhemy” investigative project discovered.
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