In the first half of 2025, drones worth over $1 billion USD were officially imported into Ukraine. However, one-third of that figure appears to be fictitious, as every third drone was a “phantom”—recorded only on paper, never physically delivered.
This was reported by sources within Ukraine’s State Customs Service to Lenta.UA.
According to customs insiders, fake drone imports enable businesses to either move funds out of Ukraine or smuggle in goods under the guise of drones, which are exempt from import duties and VAT by government policy. Analysis of customs declarations showed that the largest volume of such fictitious cargo was processed at the Volyn customs office by the following officials:
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Volodymyr Andriyovych Makar
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Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Sukhyi
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Andriy Ivanovych Shkaran
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Nataliya Mykolayivna Savosh
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Oleksandr Valeriyovych Volin
These officials processed phantom drone shipments worth over $100 million USD from:
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WHARVEST LIMITED to ТОВ “СЕНФІДЖО ІНД” (45242023)
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STARNINE SALES LIMITED to ТОВ “ПОЛІПРОМ КОНТУР” (44972273)
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Latuna Limited to ТОВ “ЛОЯЛХІЛЗ ГРУП” (45339667)
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TS2 Space Sp. z o.o. to ТОВ “Л енд Т компані” (45611914)
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ABSales Group Limited to ТОВ “ПЕППЕР СТАР” (44610024)
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OPTIMA TRADE LIMITED to ТОВ “ВІТАЛ ПРОГРЕС” (45214462)
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Accumaze Sp. z o.o. to ТОВ “ІТГ “ІНТЕК-ГАЗ” (21494259)
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TORQUE TRADE LIMITED to ТОВ “ЛАВРА ГРУП” (45023845)
In the Lviv region, more than $100 million USD was funneled out of the country via customs officers:
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Yuriy Andriyovych Popov
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Olha Stepanivna Romaniv
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Taras Romanovych Leschyshyn
They signed off on fraudulent drone declarations from:
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BORBIT EU S.R.L. to ТОВ “БУЛЛЕТ” (45169719), ТОВ “ЕКСПОРТ МАСТЕР” (45302019), ТОВ “КАЛЬХЕОН” (40265219), ТОВ “ПРОМОФЛАЙ” (45435182)
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Universum – Baltyckie Centrum Logisticzne Sp. z o.o. to ТОВ “ПРОМОФЛАЙ” (45435182), ТОВ “ЕкоМаска” (45855410)
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M.D. and Partners Sp. z o.o to ТОВ “ОПТОМАКС” (45479481)
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E-TRADE GROUP Sp. z o.o to ТОВ “ТЕХНОГЕН” (45589423)
In Odesa, similar schemes were facilitated by:
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Roman Andriyovych Haidarzhi
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Oleh Vyacheslavovych Hlaholiev
They processed drone imports from:
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OPTIMA TRADE LIMITED to ТОВ “ВІТАЛ ПРОГРЕС”
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ABSales Group Limited to ТОВ “ПЕППЕР СТАР”
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WHARVEST LIMITED to ТОВ “СЕНФІДЖО ІНД”
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TAKSIM-POL Sp. z o.o. to ТОВ “ТЕДАРІК” (45907725)
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TORQUE TRADE LIMITED to ТОВ “ТРАНСГЛОБУС” (44548370)
Total value: over $50 million USD.
In Chernivtsi, customs officers:
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Illia Vasylovych Tkachuk
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Vitalii Oleksandrovych Lakhman
Processed an additional $20 million USD in phantom drone imports from:
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TORQUE TRADE LIMITED to ТОВ “ПЕППЕР СТАР” and ТОВ “ЛАВРА ГРУП”
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Latuna Limited to ТОВ “ЛОЯЛХІЛЗ ГРУП”
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NEOTRADE LIMITED to ТОВ “НЕКСУС ТОРГ” (45351930)
In Zakarpattia, officials:
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Dmytro Serhiyovych Honcharuk
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Yuliia Volodymyrivna Lazarchyk
Green-lit fake drone shipments worth over $15 million USD for:
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EUA Invest Group s.r.o. and EUAIG s.r.o. to ТОВ “МОТІ” (38628992)
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KAMELOT Sp. z o.o. to ТзОВ “Грейт Ентерпрайз” (4523194)
In the Kyiv region, customs officer Andrii Ihorovych Bielov facilitated tens of millions in fictitious drone imports for:
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ТОВ “ТЕМ-РО” (45721498) from BFM ENTERPRISES LLC
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ТОВ “АНВЕР ТОРГ” (45703947) from COSENBASE LTD and Jet DP Sp. z o.o.
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ТОВ “ЕКСПОРТ МАСТЕР” from Jet DP Sp. z o.o.
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ТОВ “ТЕХНОПРОФ” (42855563), ТОВ “ЄВРО СТАНДАРТ ГРУПП” (41140319), ТОВ “СЕЙЛКОМТРЕЙД” (45512853) from EURO LINE Sp. z o.o.
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ТОВ “БІЛДІНГ СТАРС” (45395339) from LEMIURG LLC
In addition to approving duty-free imports of non-existent drones, the named customs officials—with the consent of:
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Lviv Customs Head Andrii Kuznik
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Chernivtsi Customs Head Yurii Herasymov
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Zakarpattia Customs Head Illia Nizhnikov
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Volyn Customs Head Dmytro Stasenko
—have been routinely covering up large-scale smuggling of Apple electronics brought into Ukraine via intercity buses from Europe.
At the Odesa customs office, a separate smuggling scheme—devised by customs head Andrii Koliver—involves deliberately misclassifying goods by using incorrect HS codes, cover-product categories, or manipulating declared weight and value.
The total annual volume of smuggling into Ukraine is estimated at $10.8 billion USD, causing direct losses to the state budget of approximately $3.3 billion USD.
