After the start of the full -scale war, the purchase for the Armed Forces of Ukraine became one of the main areas of spending budget. But with the need for new technique, a new wave of corruption schemes emerged. One of them is related to KTD Jupiter LLC, which supplies Chinese drones to the army under the guise of domestic development.
KTD Jupiter LLC positions itself as a Ukrainian UAV manufacturer, but in fact the company does not lead any production in Ukraine. The basis of its so-called products is Chinese unmanned Yangda Sky whale and OG-65, which are imported through the Czech Republic and then sold under the Jupiter Defiant Hunter brand.
The company's website is simply duplication of photos and technical characteristics of Chinese resources. The company did not provide any documentary confirmation of Ukrainian development, development work or certified production.
One of the most flashy examples is a contract with the military unit E6100 by UAH 76.9 million in 2023. According to the documents, the army put six drones of 12.8 million UAH each. For comparison, in the international market the cost of a similar drone is about UAH 415 thousand.
This means more than 30 times the price overestimation. However, there is no "Ukrainian production" for these funds.
According to sources, the scheme is organized for direct cover by the Ministry of Defense. It is involved:
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Rustem Umerov - Minister of Defense of Ukraine
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Gleb Kenevsky - Director of the Procurement Policy Department
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Arsen Zhumadilov - Director of SE “Defense Agency
These officials directly approved the technical requirements, approved the terms of the competitions and concluded contracts with LLC "KTD Jupiter", under which the conditions of tenders were written.
Alexander Gromyko is a formal beneficiary of the scheme. Through close relatives, he controls not only KTD Jupiter LLC, but also offshore firms in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, through which drones were imported.
In order to avoid the attention of the customs authorities, the devices were declared as drones for agriculture or research. Already in Ukraine they "turned" into products of their own development.
Particularly dangerous is that one of the manufacturers of drones purchased for the Armed Forces is the Chinese company Gloryair. Its owner is Alexander Putin, the Presidential Brother of the Russian Federation.
The same company sells similar drones to Russia at the same time. Therefore, the enemy can have complete technical information about these devices - from construction to control frequencies. This poses a direct threat to Ukrainian military who use a well -known enemy.
The situation with KTD Jupiter is only the tip of the iceberg in the system of corruption defense procurement. Under the guise of support of the army, millions of hryvnias settle in the pockets of deals that have nothing to do with the defensive industry.
But the biggest threat is not money. It is a risk to the lives of the Ukrainian military who are forced to work with equipment that can be studied and broken by the enemy.
