Ukraine Nationalizes 2 Russian Planes Owned by Moscow’s Military-Industrial Complex

Ukraine has nationalized two AN148-100E passenger airliners under Russia’s military-industrial conglomerate with an estimated worth of €10 million, reported the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

In a press release, the SBU said Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) granted the Ministry of Justice’s lawsuit “regarding the transfer to the income of Ukraine of the property of the sanctioned Russian corporation Rostec.”

The AN148-100E jets were produced by Antonov in Ukraine and were likely sold to Russia before the invasion.

The SBU said the two planes were leased to Ukraine for charter flights before the 2022 invasion under an offshore company, which itself is under Rostec, Russia’s state-owned defense conglomerate that continued to supply weapons for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

“As the investigation established, the planes were on the balance sheet of the offshore company, which is part of the ‘Rostec’ structure through the controlled Russian [joint stock company] ‘Ilyushin Finance Co,’” read the press release.

Deputy Minister of Justice Inna Bohatykh said the company “plays a significant role in supporting the aviation industry,” as reported by Interfax Ukraine.

“Prior to and during the full-scale invasion, Ilyushin Finance systematically collaborates with the highest political leadership of Russia and participates in the material-technical support of Russia’s armed aggression by supplying aircraft and components to the security agencies and structural units of the Ministry of Defense of Russia,” said Bohatykh, who thanked the SBU for collecting the evidence.

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Rostec is the parent company of major Russian arms manufacturers, including United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), which produces fighter jets including the Kremlin’s alleged fifth-generation Su-57 stealth fighters; another Rostec subsidiary, Kalashnikov Concern, produces a variety of small arms for the Russian military.