Law enforcement officials have uncovered a large-scale scheme involving the illegal production and distribution in Ukraine of the counterfeit weight-loss drug “Biopatid,” in connection with which 27 individuals have been notified of their status as suspects, according to a Sunday announcement by the press service of the Office of the Prosecutor General on its Telegram channel.
According to the investigation, the suspects include the scheme’s organizer and owner of the underground laboratory, the owner of a well-known Kyiv clinic, a customs broker, laboratory workers, packagers, sales and advertising managers, as well as other participants in the criminal activity.
The cost of the main ingredients was about $17, while the finished product was sold for up to $1,200. According to preliminary data, products totaling more than $5 million have been manufactured since the beginning of this year.
“The mastermind behind the scheme, aware of the high demand for weight-loss drugs and the high cost of medications containing the active ingredient tirzepatide, decided to set up his own illegal ‘pharmaceutical business.’ To this end, he set up an underground laboratory where a generic version of the drug was manufactured without any permits or quality control,” according to a statement released by the press service.
The raw materials were subsequently used in the underground laboratory. The participants in the scheme created a website and social media pages, recruited sales managers, and actively advertised the drug.
They offered it to beauty salons, clinics, and healthcare professionals in various regions of Ukraine. Bloggers, actors, and other public figures were also enlisted to promote the product.
As part of the criminal investigation, law enforcement officers conducted more than 250 authorized searches at locations where the counterfeit drug was manufactured, stored, sold, and distributed, as well as at hospitals and cosmetic clinics.
Investigative actions were carried out in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Mykolaiv, Rivne, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, and Chernihiv.
During the searches, investigators seized the counterfeit drug and raw materials used in its production, equipment from an underground laboratory, packaging materials and finished printed materials, documentation and drafts, as well as cell phones and computer equipment.
Law enforcement officers also seized cash in various currencies totaling nearly 15 million hryvnias, luxury cars, and other property.
The issue of imposing preventive measures on all suspects is currently being resolved.
The investigations were conducted by prosecutors in collaboration with SBU officers.
In accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of a crime and may not be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt has been proven in accordance with the law and established by a court conviction.
The Security Service of Ukraine dismantled an international drug smuggling ring operating out of Southern Europe and seized the largest shipment of cocaine since the start of the full-scale war, valued at approximately 70 million hryvnia. As part of a special operation in the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Lviv regions, ten suspected members of an international drug syndicate were detained simultaneously, the SBU reported on August 12.
According to the security service, the group was involved in the distribution of wholesale shipments of cocaine, ecstasy, and other psychotropic substances imported from abroad. The SBU estimates the monthly revenue from these illegal activities at 15–20 million hryvnias.
Investigators believe a Kyiv resident was the organizer of the group’s activities in Ukraine. According to law enforcement, he recruited people to distribute drugs in various regions of the country.
During the first series of searches, SBU officers discovered approximately 2 kg of cocaine and other prohibited substances. Subsequently, more than 8 kg of cocaine and other potent substances were found in hiding places. The SBU estimated the total value of the seized substances at approximately 70 million hryvnias.
Thus, this amounts to approximately 10 kg of cocaine, not including the other seized substances. The SBU describes this shipment as the largest the agency has uncovered in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war.
The ten detainees have been notified of charges under Part 3 of Article 307 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine—the illegal production, acquisition, storage, transportation, or sale of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances committed by an organized group. They are currently in custody. The investigation has also established the possible involvement of three Ukrainian citizens currently in Spain in organizing the trafficking route. The issue of their extradition to Ukraine is currently being resolved.
The operation was carried out by SBU officers under the procedural supervision of the Dnipro District Prosecutor’s Office in Kyiv.
The SBU operation comes amid high cocaine supply in Europe. According to the 2026 European Drug Report, cocaine remains the second most prevalent illicit drug in Europe after cannabis. Approximately 4.3 million Europeans aged 15–64 have used it in the past year.
The EUDA notes that large shipments of cocaine continue to flow into Europe primarily from South America, with international criminal networks actively exploiting global commercial and maritime cargo flows. Large quantities of the drug are regularly seized at European ports.
Spain and the Western Balkans are a key component of the European system for combating international drug trafficking, primarily due to the activities of major organized crime groups in the region.
Europol notes that certain criminal networks linked to Montenegro are involved in organizing large-scale cocaine shipments from South America to European markets and have connections both within the EU and in Latin America.
In April 2026, Europol reported the arrest in Montenegro of one of the leading members of the so-called “Balkan Cartel.” Montenegrin law enforcement authorities charged a group of suspects in connection with the illicit trafficking of approximately 2,700 metric tons of cocaine between October 2024 and April 2026. The drugs had previously been seized during several operations in EU countries and South America.
Law enforcers have reported the suspicion of Yevhen Chernyak, an entrepreneur and owner of one of Ukraine’s largest alcoholic holdings, as well as six top managers of his companies. They are suspected of financing Russia’s armed aggression, the Security Service of Ukraine said.
“The security service has collected the evidence base on the owner of one of the largest alcoholic holdings of Ukraine Evgeny Chernyak, who is suspected of financing armed aggression rf. According to the investigation, despite the full-scale invasion, his companies continued to do business with the aggressor country,” the SBU said in a statement on its Telegram channel on Friday night.
Reportedly, during 2022 only in the form of payment of taxes and fees controlled by Chernyak companies transferred to the budget of the Russian Federation about 6 billion in the hryvnia equivalent. The investigation documented that the enterprises of the defendant, located in four countries of Central Asia and the South Caucasus, purchased industrial quantities of alcohol and other related products in Russia. During searches in the office premises of the holding in Ukraine, documents and other physical evidence of illegal activities in favor of the aggressor country were found.
“Based on the collected evidence, the investigators of the security service reported on suspicion Chernyak and 6 other top managers of his companies on part 2 of article 28, article 111-2 of the Criminal code of Ukraine (aiding the state-aggressor, committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons)”, – informs the SBU.
Reportedly, the issue of seizure of their private and corporate property for transfer to the ARMA management is now being decided. The investigation was conducted under the procedural guidance of the Kyiv regional Prosecutor’s office.
According to open sources, Chernyak, the founder of the Khortytsa brand, is the head of the supervisory board of the Global Spirits alcohol holding company.
financing Russia's armed aggression, GLOBAL SPIRITS, Khortytsa, SBU, Yevhen Chernyak
On August 12, the Department of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced its intention to conclude a contract with IC “VUSO” (Kiev) for compulsory insurance of civil liability of owners of land vehicles.
According to the data of the electronic public procurement system Prozorro, the company’s price offer amounted to UAH 508,238 thousand against the expected cost of purchasing services of UAH 1.369 million.
The tender was also attended by insurance companies “Salamandra”-522,5 thousand UAH, “Oranta”-690,2 thousand UAH, “Inter-Policy”-1,159 million UAH, “Arsenal Insurance”-1,226 million UAH.
IC “VUSO” was founded in 2001. The company holds 50 licenses: 34 – for voluntary and 16 – for compulsory types of insurance. It is represented in all regions of Ukraine. It is a member of the ITSBU and the FSA, a participant of the Agreement on direct settlement of losses and a member of the Nuclear Insurance Pool.
According to the materials of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the property of former people’s deputy, subsanctioned businessman Vadym Novinsky worth more than 3.5 billion UAH has been arrested, the special service said.
“According to the materials of the Security Service arrested the property of pro-Russian oligarch Vadim Novinsky, involved in the complicity of the aggressor country,” the SBU said in a message in the Telegram channel on Thursday.
According to its data, the list of blocked assets includes corporate rights to 40 Ukrainian enterprises and 30 gas wells, where industrial volumes of “blue fuel” are produced. The total amount of property seized is more than 3.5 billion hryvnias.
Reportedly, in order to avoid sanctions of the National Security and Defence Council, Novinsky tried to re-register his own industrial facilities to several affiliated commercial structures. To implement the deal, he engaged controlled private notaries and state registrars.
Currently, based on the materials provided by the SBU, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has cancelled the illegal actions of the registrars for a number of the oligarch’s companies.
As part of criminal proceedings under Article 111-2 (aiding and abetting the aggressor state) the SBU officers searched the offices of the companies and the places of work and residence of those involved. During the searches, documents, seals of non-resident companies and pro-Kremlin religious literature were found.
An investigation is under way to establish all the circumstances of the crime and bring the perpetrators to justice, the SBU said.
Investigative actions are conducted under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.
As reported, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky’s decree of December 1, 2022 put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defense Council “On certain aspects of the activities of religious organizations in Ukraine and the application of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions)”, which sanctions were also applied to Novinsky.
The sanctions package includes 12 types of imposed restrictions, in particular, a complete blocking of assets, a ban on trade transactions, deprivation of all state awards and insignia, a ban on the withdrawal of capital outside of Ukraine, etc.
Employees of the Security Service of Ukraine have detained Vyacheslav Boguslayev, president of Motor Sich JSC, who is suspected of collaborating and working for the Russian Federation, the press center of the SBU reported.
In addition, law enforcement officers detained the head of the Department of Foreign Economic Activity of this enterprise.
The suspects were announced on suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, in particular, Art. 111-1 (collaboration activity) and art. 111-2 (complicity with the aggressor state).
The SBU noted that the detention took place within the framework of criminal proceedings on the illegal supply by Motor Sich of military goods for Russian attack aircraft.
According to the materials of the investigation, the management of the plant located in Zaporozhye is involved in the deal. Officials acted in collusion with representatives of the Russian corporation Rostec, which is one of the main arms manufacturers for Russia, close to the Kremlin.
“The attackers have established transnational channels for the illegal supply of wholesale lots of Ukrainian aircraft engines to the aggressor country. The occupiers used the resulting products for the production and repair of Russian attack helicopters of the Mi-8AMTSh-VN “Sapson”, KO-52 “Alligator”, Mi-28N “Night Hunter” types “, the message says.
It has been established that the invaders massively used the corresponding models of army aviation for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This is confirmed by numerous facts of the destruction of enemy combat helicopters by our defenders.
“To circumvent the established restrictions on trade with the Russian Federation, the organizers of the scheme used controlled commercial structures in three countries of the Middle East, Europe and East Asia. It was these companies that sent the order to the Ukrainian manufacturer, allegedly for the needs of the foreign side,” the report says.
At the same time, after receiving military products, “intermediaries” forwarded them to Russia. The enemy also used his foreign accomplices to repair and maintain their own aircraft using Ukrainian spare parts.
During the investigation, the Security Service officers identified all the organizers of the transactions, documented their criminal actions and carried out comprehensive measures to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Vyacheslav Boguslaev, President of JSC “Motor Sich” – one of the largest enterprises in Europe for the production of aircraft engines. Prior to the sale of a controlling stake in the Chinese company Skyrizon, which was frozen by the court, he was the largest shareholder of the enterprise.
Born in 1938, in 1966 he graduated from the Zaporozhye Machine-Building Institute with a degree in Aircraft Engines, since 1973 he has been the director of the Volochisk Machine-Building Plant, since 1988 he has been the general director of the Zaporizhzhya PO “Motorostroitel”.
Boguslaev headed Motor Sich in 1991. Since 1994 – the head of the board and general director of Motor Sich OJSC.
Since 2006, the people’s deputy of Ukraine of 5-8 convocations, and since 2019, the president of Motor Sich JSC and the general designer for the creation and modernization of helicopter technology.
