The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said an enterprise in the Kyiv region has been making wholesale deliveries of first aid supplies, including tourniquets, to Russian forces through multiple channels.
According to the investigation, more than Hr. 40 million ($1 million) worth of tourniquets and bandages were shipped to Russia between 2022 and 2023.
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The SBU suspected that the owner of one of the largest enterprises in Ukraine manufacturing rubber and plastic products – including those used for military gear – was the mastermind behind the operations.
According to the SBU press release, the suspects set up a shell company in the EU that ordered the goods allegedly for sale in the bloc, but the goods were ultimately destined for sanctioned companies in Russia, eventually making their way into the issued first-aid kits of Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine.
Part of the supplies also made their way from Russia to hospitals in the occupied territories, according to the SBU.
The press release said the owner of the Ukrainian company tried to promote his own image as a volunteer delivering medical supplies to Ukrainian fighters to “mask the criminal activity.”
Some sources believed the company was Kyivguma LLC, a company that produces rubber, latex and silicone goods in Ukraine.
The general director and co-founder of the company, Andriy Ostrogrud, informed the public of the SBU raid on his Facebook page, where he categorically denied all allegations of potential collaborations with Russia.
ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, November, 21, 2024
He said the company had stopped working with Russia in February 2022, when the full-scale invasion broke out, and that the companies in question – based in Switzerland and Estonia – are long-term clients with whom his company has been cooperating for decades.
“They were always supplied with the same items (medicine, children’s products)! Therefore, you should not accuse us of ‘tricky schemes,’ all this can also be seen in the tax and customs office by looking at the history of deliveries!” said Ostrogrud in his Facebook update.
Ostrogrud hinted at political forces at play behind the raids, and he said he was “sure that the lawyers have all the evidence and arguments to deny everything stated in the official article of the SBU.”
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