'Old Weapon' Allegation Against Defense Firm in Ukrayna: Top Executive Beaten

It was claimed that the Ukrayna Güvenlik Servisi (SBU) conducted an operation in the morning hours against the first deputy director of the "Ukrayna Zırh Teknolojisi" (Ukrainska Bronetekhnika) company and used violence. According to the company's statement, the deputy director was beaten by SBU teams, severely injured, suffered a brain concussion, and was hospitalized. Company officials announced the situation to the public, arguing that the operation in question was illegal and carried out within the framework of a completely fabricated criminal case. Immediately after the incident, the company suggested that the purpose of this process was to exert pressure on the country's largest private defense industry firm and to weaken Ukrayna's defense capacity. The SBU, after hours of silence, claimed in a written statement that no physical violence was used against any person during the searches and that all procedures were conducted in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code.

According to the information shared by the prosecution and the SBU, the main reason for the tension is the allegation that the company sold old and used rocket launchers to the Ukrayna Silahlı Kuvvetleri by presenting them as new weapons. Authorities announced that the company caused the state a loss of more than 318 million Grivna in this way. Within the scope of the investigation, it was determined that while new weapons produced in 2024-2026 should have been delivered according to the contract, rocket launchers manufactured in the 1980s were sent to the military unit. In the examinations, it was stated that when the new labels on the weapons were removed, old Czech markings and production dates from 1986-1988 emerged underneath. In addition, the presence of heavy oxidation traces on the parts revealed that the weapons were indeed very old and could be unusable.

In the detailed defense made by the company, the process was addressed in a completely different context. Company officials stated that they participated in the tender opened by the Savunma Tedarik Ajansı in february 2026 and procured RPG-75M model rocket launchers from the Çekya-based company Zeveta Ammunition. The company, which stated that they offered the best price in the tender where about twenty companies participated and that they discounted the price twice, argued that they fulfilled the contract flawlessly. The company, claiming that no official complaint regarding poor quality or defect in the products came from the customer, suggested that the SBU was trying to prove its claims with expert reports of a 'purchasing' nature prepared without taking the manufacturer company's opinion.

The statements of the officials regarding the investigation process contain striking details that further deepen the dimension of the incident. According to the investigation data, it was reported that even before the contract was signed, the Lojistik Kuvvetler Komutanlığı warned the supplier that the effectiveness of such weapons was low. Despite this, a massive contract with a total value of 637 million Grivna was signed, and the company received an advance payment of 318,5 million Grivna. The first batch of 3 bin 24 rocket launchers delivered in May 2026 was not accepted by the military unit due to quality concerns and was only taken into temporary storage. Investigation teams are also investigating whether there was cooperation and a bribery network between state procurement officials and the supplier company for this irregular purchase to take place.

This crisis reveals the critical challenges and trust issues Ukrayna faces in defense supply during its ongoing war period. According to previous investigation records, it emerged that the same foreign supplier company tried to sell old weapons to Ukrayna as new in 2022-2023, but the contract was terminated when the situation was understood at that time. A remarkable detail is that the price of the weapons in the past canceled agreement was exactly one-ninth of the price in the current contract under investigation. Along with the company's evaluation of the physical violence allegations and the Genel Savcılık Ofisi continuing to examine the legal dimension of the incident, it remains a matter of curiosity how long the repercussions of this case will last in the Ukrayna defense industry.