The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) carried out investigative actions at drone manufacturer Vyriy Industries on 7 July. In a statement published on its website, the company said it was cooperating with the investigation. It also said that, a day earlier, Vyriy Industries and its CEO Oleksiy Babenko had been targeted by a coordinated information campaign consisting of numerous posts on anonymous Telegram channels.
According to the company, the posts contained "manipulative and unsubstantiated allegations" against both the company and its chief executive. Vyriy Industries said it could not rule out the possibility that the simultaneous emergence of the information campaign and the investigative actions formed part of an attempt to discredit the company.
"Such actions may benefit both the enemy and unscrupulous market participants seeking to disrupt drone supplies to the Ukrainian Defence Forces and slow the development of Ukraine's defence industry," the statement said.
The company added that it continues to operate as normal and is fulfilling its production and contractual obligations.
Ukrainska Pravda and Babel, in which Oleksiy Babenko is a co-owner, reported that the investigation concerns alleged artificial price inflation for drones supplied under state contracts last year.
Searches were also conducted at the homes of Babenko's brother and mother. Babel said that the campaign to discredit both the publication and its investor on Telegram and Facebook public pages began after it published an investigation into non-combat deaths in the Skelia Assault Regiment. The outlet initially identified 25 deaths among new recruits and on 7 July published further findings indicating that the number of non-combat losses over the past six months was higher.
Update: The National Association of Defence Industries of Ukraine (NAUDI) expressed concern over the searches involving Vyriy Industries, describing the company as one of Ukraine's most effective drone manufacturers.
The association said Vyriy was among the pioneers of Ukraine's FPV drone industry and one of the country's largest manufacturers of FPV drone components.
NAUDI also expressed concern that the investigative actions had been preceded by a public campaign targeting the company. It stressed that legal assessments and procedural decisions should be based solely on the results of an objective and impartial investigation.
"NAUDI respects the work of law enforcement agencies and the need to conduct investigations where required by law. At the same time, we call on the State Bureau of Investigation and the Office of the Prosecutor General to ensure that all procedural actions are carried out in a way that does not unjustifiably disrupt the company's operations, interrupt production processes or delay the fulfilment of contracts supporting Ukraine's defenders," the association said.