"Ukrainian Armored Vehicles" reported that a top manager was beaten during an SBU search
Ukrainian Armored Vehicles LLC stated that during a search, officers of the Security Service of Ukraine allegedly brutally beat the company’s first deputy director. The company claims that the official sustained numerous injuries and a concussion and was hospitalized.
“During an illegal search, SBU officers brutally beat the first deputy director of Ukrainian Armored Vehicles LLC in his own home, resulting in multiple injuries, a concussion, and hospitalization. All of this took place as part of a completely fabricated case, the sole purpose of which is to exert pressure on the largest private Ukrainian company in the defense-industrial complex and to undermine Ukraine’s defense capabilities,” the company stated.
“Ukrainian Armored Vehicles” explained that the criminal proceedings, according to their account, concerns a contract for the supply of single-use anti-tank grenade launchers, concluded following a procurement announcement by the State Enterprise “Defense Procurement Agency” in February 2026.
According to the company, about 20 suppliers participated in the tender, and the company offered several variants of grenade launchers, including the Bulspike-AT, Bulspike-TB, RPG-75M, and RTG68mm. After two rounds of price reductions, its bid was reportedly deemed the most economically advantageous, and the customer selected the RPG-75M grenade launchers manufactured by the Czech company Zeveta Ammunition.
The company emphasized that the contract was fulfilled in full, and the products were delivered to the designated warehouse in May–June 2026.
At the same time, the company states that the government customer has not yet finally accepted the delivered grenade launchers, although no official complaints regarding their quality have been received.
The company also claims that investigators are allegedly using expert analyses to support the theory that the products are substandard; however, according to company representatives, the grenade launcher manufacturer was not consulted regarding the assessment of the equipment’s technical condition.
“Instead, SBU officers decided to use the gangster-style pressure tactics of the Yanukovych era against Ukraine’s largest defense company and, while conducting searches in connection with a fabricated case, inflicted bodily harm on the company’s first deputy director. These actions by SBU officers not only compromise the Service itself but also cause enormous harm to our country’s defense capabilities,” the company stated.
Serhiy Pashynsky, chairman of the National Association of the Defense Industry of Ukraine (NAUDI), also commented on the situation, calling the incident unprecedented.
“Today, an unprecedented event took place in which, under the pretext of a fabricated criminal case regarding the alleged supply of substandard products to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, physical violence was used against the first deputy director of Ukraine’s largest defense enterprise—Ukrainian Armored Vehicles,” Pashynsky said.
According to him, tens of thousands of units of Czech-made ammunition had already been supplied to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the Defense Procurement Agency had not filed an official complaint, as required by law.
Pashynsky also noted that the disputed contract accounts for only about 0.2% of the total volume of products the company has supplied to the Ukrainian military.
“And the use of physical violence cannot be explained by anything other than a conscious or unconscious attempt to block the supply of ammunition worth tens of billions of hryvnias,” he said.
The NAUDI chairman called on Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, the acting head of the SBU, and the leadership of the security service to conduct an objective investigation, establish the circumstances surrounding the searches, and, if violations are confirmed, hold those responsible accountable.
As of this publication, the Security Service of Ukraine had not officially commented on the statements by “Ukrainian Armored Vehicles” and Serhiy Pashynsky.
This was reported by the company’s press office.
As a reminder, the Security Service of Ukraine and the prosecutor’s office conducted searches at the Department of Digital Transformation of the Kharkiv City Council in connection with a case involving embezzlement of budget funds. The investigative actions began early in the morning on May 14 as part of an investigation into financial misconduct.
Prior to this, police had detained an organized group that used forged documents to register state-owned land plots in the names of fictitious individuals for subsequent sale, causing significant losses to the state.
Law enforcement officials notified the former and current directors, as well as the head of a department at one of the railcar manufacturing enterprises, that they were under suspicion. According to the investigation, they were involved in supplying substandard rolling stock to Ukrzaliznytsia, causing losses of more than 64 million hryvnias.
