The State Bureau of Investigation announced an investigation into the purchase of drones worth almost UAH 7 billion. Law enforcement officers conducted searches at VYRIY Industries the day before
The State Bureau of Investigation confirmed that it is conducting investigative actions in criminal proceedings regarding the possible overestimation of the cost of drones purchased under state contracts by almost UAH 7 billion. On the eve, law enforcement officers conducted searches at the drone manufacturer VYRIY Industries, the company announced its cooperation with the investigation.
The State Bureau of Investigation confirmed that it is conducting investigative actions in criminal proceedings regarding the possible overestimation of the cost of drones purchased under state contracts by almost UAH 7 billion. On the eve, law enforcement officers conducted searches at the drone manufacturer VYRIY Industries, the company announced its cooperation with the investigation.
What happened
According to the State Bureau of Investigation, the criminal proceedings concern the possible misappropriation of budget funds during the implementation of state contracts for the supply of unmanned aerial vehicles for the needs of the security and defense sector.
According to the investigation, in 2025, one of the enterprises concluded contracts with the State Enterprise «Defense Procurement Agency» for the supply of UAVs of various types and modifications for UAH 6.95 billion.
Law enforcement officers are investigating the version that company officials may have artificially inflated the cost of production, including unreasonably high production, administrative, and other costs that affected the final price of drones.
Pre-trial investigation is carried out under the following articles:
Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (embezzlement or embezzlement of property in especially large amounts);
Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (legalization of proceeds from crime);
Part 2 of Article 205-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (forgery of documents for state registration of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs).
What is the investigation checking?
According to the State Bureau of Investigation, non-resident enterprises, Ukrainian legal entities, and individual entrepreneurs with signs of fictitiousness could be used to document financial transactions.
Investigators have already identified over 150 individual entrepreneurs who could have been used in the scheme. Among them are manicurists, students, store employees, and representatives of other professions.
Some of these individuals have already been questioned as witnesses. According to them, they were not actually engaged in entrepreneurial activity, but only provided their documents for registration in exchange for a monetary reward.
Financial transactions worth over UAH 197 million are being separately checked, which, according to the State Financial Monitoring Service, may be related to money laundering.
During the searches, law enforcement officers also seized significant amounts of cash, which, according to investigators, was not reflected in the companies' financial statements.
Expert examinations and analysis of financial documentation are currently underway. Once these actions are completed, the issue of reporting suspicious transactions will be decided.
On the morning of July 7, it became known that the State Bureau of Investigation was conducting searches at VYRIY Industries, as well as at the company’s co-founder and CEO, Oleksiy Babenko, his relatives, and the company’s office.
According to Babel, investigators seized Babenko’s mobile phone and about $3,500 in cash. The publication reported that the searches may be related to suspicions of possible overpricing of products and fictitious contracts. Law enforcement officials did not officially comment on these circumstances at the time.
After the investigation began, VYRIY Industries stated that it was fully cooperating with law enforcement, continuing to operate as normal, and fulfilling all contractual obligations to the Ukrainian Defense Forces. The company also urged not to draw premature conclusions until the investigation is complete.
The SBI’s report does not specify the name of the company under investigation. The agency only reports on investigative actions in the case of contracts for the supply of UAVs. Therefore, it is not possible to directly state that the official SBI report concerns VYRIY Industries at this time — this should be presented as a temporal and informational connection, and not as an established fact.
Today at 7:00 PM he was supposed to give a press conference regarding the situation at the Parkovoye Exhibition and Convention Center. However, 45 minutes before Oleksiy Babenko’s press conference, the Parkovoye management canceled the hall rental and banned the event. The press conference is being postponed to 8:00 PM at Sens on Khreshchatyk.
