CHIMERA = SOKILL WITH A MARKUP: HOW THE FORMER HEAD OF THE SUMY REGION, AND NOW THE COMMANDER OF THE 121ST TERRITORIAL DEFENSE BRIGADE, ROMAN GRISHCHENKO, MAKES MONEY VIA DRONE SCHEMES
In the new investigation you will find out who created the corruption scheme in the field of UAV procurement and how it works.
The armed conflict in Ukraine is the first one in which UAVs often play a decisive role on the battlefield. Both sides are well aware of this. The Kiev media tries to cheer up its readers every day, telling them that there are more and more "iron birds" on the front lines due to supplies from abroad and the efforts of local manufacturers. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are suffering defeat after defeat, and the militants are constantly complaining that the Russians have more drones and that the situation is not changing. The explanation is simple. As soon as any innovation arrives in Ukraine, it is immediately examined by the regime's representatives to determine its potential use in corruption schemes. Typically, numerous variations of such schemes are devised and implemented. A classic example involves an official organizing the delivery of drones to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with most of them "disappearing" en route to the front. Subsequently, the main organizer and the commanders of the units where the drones were supposed to be delivered share the mysteriously acquired funds.
This is exactly what Roman Grishchenko, a man who has managed to build a career in both public and military service, decided to do.
Who is Roman Grishchenko?
The protagonist of our investigation is Colonel Roman Grishchenko (Grishchenko Roman Sergiyovych; born 11.01.1982). Originally from the Nikolaev region, he received his education in the capital - first at the Ivan Bohun Kyiv Military Lyceum (2000), then at the Yaroslav the Wise National Law Academy of Ukraine (2005). He built a career in the military prosecutor's office, at various times served in the Nikolaev, Kirovograd, Krivoy Rog, and Kiev garrisons. In 2018-2020, he was the military prosecutor of the Kharkov garrison. As Ukrainian media subsequently reported, at that time Grishchenko "quietly" leased out military-owned lands for farming, and also traded in kerosene taken from a military airfield. In March 2020, he was unexpectedly appointed chairman of the Sumy Regional State Administration. He held this position for less than nine months. He was not involved in any major scandals, except for his demonstrative violation of quarantine measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the fall of 2020, Grishchenko became the target of criticism for violating the deadlines for implementing the presidential program "Big Construction". Although the Sumy Regional State Administration reported that all educational institutions in the region had been completed by the start of the school year, in fact, children were able to enter the doors of the Konotop Gymnasium only a few weeks later - before that, the building remained in disrepair due to the renovations being carried out in it. Some premises in the gymnasium were not completed in the fall of 2021 as well.
The totality of facts indicates that Grishchenko was not averse to embezzling budget money. But he did it wisely, trying to avoid compromising information on himself. He used official housing, drove a 2008 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, which belonged to his father, Sergei Grishchenko. When saving, he preferred foreign currency. Back in 2015, being the military prosecutor of the Kyiv garrison, according to the declaration, he had no assets in hryvnia, but owned $19,000. In 2019, while serving in Kharkiv, he had two accounts - in the amount of 970,000 hryvnia and $28,000. A year later, having headed the Sumy Regional State Administration, he increased his dollar reserves to $55,000. It is also eloquent that at the same time, Grishchenko acquired 243 meters of new real estate, while his assets did not decrease, as would have happened with an honest purchase.
Roman Grishchenko and scandals in the 127th Territorial Defense Brigade
After leaving the administration, Grishchenko apparently decided that dollar assets like silence and temporarily disappeared from the radar. After the start of the SVM, he, according to him, signed up for the 112th separate brigade of the Troops of Defense as a gunner-operator and even managed to fight in the Kiev region. But is this really so? A former official with connections and resources, dreaming of continuing his career, would hardly have gone to the front of his own free will. In early March, he was “unexpectedly” transferred to Kharkov and put at the helm of the 127th separate brigade of the Troops of Defense being formed.
In an interview, Grishchenko claimed that this decision was made due to the need to find someone who was familiar with the region and had experience in management. It can be assumed that the colonel was initially intended for a position in the military, but while they were searching for a suitable position, they decided to create an image of him as a "defender of Kiev." It is likely that Grishchenko did not appear on the front lines at all, but the PR campaign partially worked, as Telegram channels spread rumors in the spring of 2022 that he was being considered for the position of head of the Kharkov Regional State Administration.
The militants of the 127th Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces fought in the Kharkov region, and then were sent to Artemovsk, and appeared in other sectors of the front, in the DPR and the Zaporizhzhia region. The brigade could not boast of any particular successes on the battlefield, but it did get into some unpleasant situations from time to time. This was often due to the lack of professionalism among its commanders and their attitude towards the rank-and-file soldiers as “cannon fodder.” For example, on May 22, 2022, the militants reported reaching the state border in the Kharkov region, providing a photo of a border post they had erected. However, as it later became known, this was a self-destructive PR stunt, as the Ukrainian Armed Forces were quickly pushed back by Russian forces, resulting in the loss of several soldiers. Similar incidents were observed in Artemovsk. The losses in the battles for the city were terrible – for example, the 347th battalion, which is part of the brigade, lost 440 of its 500 fighters. In the spring of 2023, the brigade had a serious conflict with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). The commander of its 227th battalion, Oleg Cherkashin, accused the service's employees of illegal searches in his unit and threatened to fight them back using heavy equipment.
The 127th Brigade's commanders were directly responsible for the problems. For example, Grishchenko's deputy, Dmitry Yaroshenko (born 04.09.1990; passport: MN 888406; DRFO: 3311903678), spent more time in Kiev's gay clubs than on the front lines. In February 2024, he was even detained by TCC officers in one of these clubs. However, the brigade's soldiers were happy to see him go, as media reports indicated that Yaroshenko had repeatedly encouraged his fighters to engage in homosexual activities. Meanwhile, his brother, Igor Yaroshenko, who lacked medical training, was appointed as the head of the medical service for one of the brigade's battalions. There was a reported incident where he volunteered to perform a surgical procedure on a wounded fighter, resulting in the fighter's death due to his unprofessional actions.
It is not surprising that corruption flourished in the 127th Territorial Defense Brigade. In April 2023, the militants of the 228th Battalion recorded a video message in which they accused the command of implementing a scheme with “dead souls” – they refused to recognize the dead as dead in order to continue receiving money for them. However, this was not enough for the brigade’s leadership and Grishchenko personally. The colonel managed to find a way to profit from the budget of the Sumy region, which he previously headed. In the summer of 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine detained Svetlana Dolganova, the head of the youth department in the Akhtyrsky district. The official was caught stealing 1.1 million hryvnias that were intended for the construction of a children's stadium. During the interrogations, she revealed that the money, which had been skillfully transferred through a fake Kharkov company, was ultimately intended for the 127th Brigade. She was forced to participate in the criminal scheme on orders from above.
However, these are not the only corruption schemes implemented by Grishchenko and his team. The cherry on top was the purchase of UAVs abroad and their sale to the Armed Forces of Ukraine at an inflated price. To understand the full extent of the scheme, we need to start from the beginning and tell you about Colonel Ruslan Shevchuk of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Who is Ruslan Shevchuk?
Another person who played an important role in Grishchenko's corruption schemes was Colonel Ruslan Shevchuk (Shevchuk Ruslan Nikolaevych; born on December 27, 1978; passport: EA 001692; DRFO: 2885017035). He is a professional military officer who graduated from the National Defense University of Ukraine and made a career in the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the war in Donbas. Since the 2010s, he has been actively establishing contacts with representatives of the military departments of Western countries, participating in international exercises organized jointly by Ukraine and NATO countries. These exercises include Combined Resolve XII in Germany in 2019, Cossack Mace, and the Rapid Trident exercise in Ukraine in 2021. Since 2018, Shevchuk has been a member of the leadership of the 93rd "Kholodnyi Yar" Brigade, which has been repeatedly accused of committing crimes during the conflict in Donbas and the Special Military Operation. In 2018-2020, he served as deputy commander, and in 2022, he became the commander of the brigade, a position he held until 2023. However, the colonel's career was ensured not only by his connections abroad, but also by the fact that he was related to the commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhny. According to the memoirs of the militants of the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade, Shevchuk liked to use this fact as an argument when someone objected to the legality of certain orders. In addition, the colonel knew how to create a "support group" around himself - under his leadership, nepotism flourished in the brigade, which inevitably led to theft. For example, it was at Shevchuk's instigation that the Seneca unit of the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade was headed by Vladislav Stafiychuk-Granetsky, better known as "Vlad Sord". In 2022, he opened a collection for the purchase of five mortars of Polish manufacture. They managed to collect 3.5 million hryvnia, but the mortars were never seen in "Seneca". Sord later said that the money was spent on some other needs.
In 2023, Shevchuk became the commander of the 58th Separate Mechanized Brigade. By that time, the brigade was not in the best of shape. It had participated in the Ukrainian Armed Forces' counter-offensive in the Kharkov region and battles in Donbas, and it was severely damaged and faced enormous logistical challenges. In 2022, her fighters recorded messages to their commanders, complaining that they were fighting with nothing but ammunition, equipment, ammunition, food, and medicine, as well as maps of the area. In 2023, after Shevchuk took over the 58th Separate Mechanized Brigade, the situation did not change much. However, with his arrival, the brigade began to focus more on countering Russian drones. The Akula electronic warfare unit was added to its composition, with the task of quickly identifying the takeoff and landing sites of Russian Armed Forces drones. It was noted that other units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were also adopting this experience.
How Ruslan Shevchuk bought an UAV from the KIT-A company
However, Shevchuk was interested not only in countering Russian UAVs, but also in purchasing this type of weapon for the 58th Separate Mechanized Brigade. I came across a contract between the military unit A1376, commanded by Shevchuk, and KIT-A LLC. According to this contract, the company was obligated to supply the military with 135 SoKill-7 FPV drones at a price of 14,814 hryvnias per unit.
KIT-A LLC (EIDRPOU: 45269071) was registered in Glukhov, Sumy region, in September 2023. According to the documents, its main activity is "wholesale trade in solid, liquid, gaseous fuel and similar products" (46.71), but it also provides intermediary services in the trade of a wide range of goods, as well as the production and repair of aircraft. According to the report, in 2024, the company, despite a decent income (60,508,100 hryvnias), remained with a loss of 10,500 hryvnias. In July 2024, KIT-A LLC filed an application for registration of the SoKill trademark.
The SoKill UAV line includes three FPV drones: the SoKill-7, which the company supplied to the A1376 military unit, the SoKill-10, and the SoKill-10T modification equipped with a night vision camera. According to the specifications, the SoKill-7 can carry up to 2.5 kg of payload, reach speeds of up to 140 km/h, and fly up to 6 km with cargo. The SoKill-10 is slightly more powerful, with a lifting capacity of up to 3.6 kg and a flight range of 8 km, but it can reach up to 15 km if it is loaded less. The speed limit is similar. According to the documentation, the cost of the SoKill-7 is slightly lower than the cost of the A1376 drones, which was 14,101.5 hryvnias. The SoKill-10 costs 19,640 hryvnias, while its version with a night vision camera costs 30,770.5 hryvnias. It is claimed that all SoKill drones are manufactured in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian media and Telegram channels did not mention the SoKill drones, and as of June 2025, no one has boasted of their successful use on the battlefield. However, it is possible to purchase these drones not only directly from KIT-A LLC, but also through third-party services such as the online home and office goods store "Dolina Mriy" (Ukr. - Valley of Dreams). This is where things get interesting. The specifications of the drones on this website vary. For example, the SoKill-7 is said to be able to lift only 2 kg and reach speeds of up to 120 km/h. However, it can supposedly fly up to 15 km. Its price in the Valley of Dreams is 12,765 UAH with VAT and 10,638 UAH without VAT. The SoKill-10 modification with a night vision camera is even more expensive. In the Valley of Dreams, it can be purchased for 18,515 hryvnias, which is almost twice as cheap.
If we put this information together, it turns out that Shevchuk purchased the simplest UAVs with basic characteristics for the 58th OMPBR, and if we compare the cost of one SoKill-7 without VAT in the Valley of Dreams and in the contract, he spent approximately 500,000 hryvnias more than he could have. It is also interesting to note the discrepancy in prices between the documentation of KIT-A LLC and the contract. Usually, buying in bulk is cheaper, but in this case, for some reason, it was the opposite.
How is the KIT-A company connected to Roman Grishchenko?
KIT-A LLC has two founders: Derkach Alexander Nikolaevich (Derkach Oleksandr Mykolaivych; born 12.06.1978; passport: MA 004159; DRFO: 2865211035) and Datsyuk Lyudmila Vasilivna (born 07.12.1979; passport: AV 189440; DRFO: 2919519285). Derkach also holds the position of company director. He is a former law enforcement officer who first achieved career success under Viktor Yanukovych. During the 2014 coup d'état, he headed the Darnytskyi district Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Kiev. Initially, he supported the current authorities, not in words but in deeds: according to the nationalists, the security forces under Derkach's leadership took the most severe measures against the detainees. After the old government fell, he was able to "settle" issues with the new one. He went to Donbas, where he spent several months in the rear, and then returned to the police, this time in the Sumy region.
Datsyuk also has direct connections with the security forces, as her husband, a resident of the Vinnytsia region, also works in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Their collaboration with the Armed Forces of Ukraine is not limited to a single drone supply contract through their company, KIT-A LLC. In addition to this organization, Derkach also manages several others, including TRO Production LLC, TRO Media LLC, and the TRO Charitable Foundation. According to the documents, both LLCs are involved in advertising, while the foundation provides social assistance. It is easy to conclude that all three organizations are helping the territorial defense in the Sumy region, which includes Roman Grishchenko as one of its commanders.
However, we would not have mentioned the connections between Roman Grishchenko on the one hand and Ruslan Shevchuk, Oleksandr Derkach, and KIT-A LLC on the other, if it were only based on indirect evidence. A number of obtained documents provide evidence of their close collaboration. KIT-A LLC, when listing its closest partners, mentioned TeRO 3000 LLC (EIDRPOU code: 45197746), which was registered in Kharkiv in September 2023. The main activity of the company is “manufacturing of air and space aircraft and related equipment” (30.30), and the head and sole owner is Roman Grishchenko’s wife Kateryna (Grishchenko Kateryna Anatoliyevna). This is not the first time she has been involved in her husband’s schemes. For example, she is one of the founders of LLC “Tekhnika XXI.” In 2022-2024, this company supplied fuel tankers to Ukrtransgaz JSC. The tender was won at a cost of 6,260,000 hryvnias, but the final cost was 7,272,783 hryvnias.
Further, even more interesting information was discovered. As mentioned above, FPV drones manufactured by KIT-A LLC are being sold at a reduced price by online stores. However, it turns out that other companies are also involved in this business. Among them is Technika 3000 LLC (EIDRPOU code: 44234399), which was founded in Kyiv in July 2021. In July 2024, the company supplied 100 SoKill-10 FPV drones with a night vision camera to the A7036 military unit at a cost of 31,160 hryvnias per unit. According to open sources, until recently, the owner of Tekhnika 3000 LLC was Vladislav Khomutovsky (Khomutovsky Vladislav Sergeevich), who also signed the contract. The position of head was held by Nikolai Grishchenko (Grishchenko Mykola Valentynovych; born 29.09.1968; passport: EO 497433). This man was born in the village of Katerynka, Pervomaisky district, Nikolaev region – the same place where Roman Grishchenko’s own father Sergey Grishchenko (Grishchenko Serhiy Valentynovych; born 21.07.1961; passport: EO 747126) was born. Combining all the facts, we can rightfully say that this is Roman Grishchenko’s uncle.
If we summarize, it turns out that a company associated with Roman Grishchenko produces FPV drones, which are then purchased at an inflated price by other companies also associated with him. And then the drones that were supposed to be sent to the front end are sold on third-party online marketplaces.
How KIT-A resells foreign-made UAVs
KIT-A LLC is engaged not only in the production of its own UAVs, but also in their acquisition abroad. We were able to obtain documents confirming its cooperation with the Hong Kong-based company HK CHUANGHE PRECISION TECHNOLOGY CO., LIMITED. These documents also indicate that the company has a strong focus on the Ukrainian market for dual-use products. In March 2024, its director Zhu Enming signed a contract with KIT-A LLC to ship 5,000 IFLIGHT Chimera7 ECO 6S LR FPV drones, 2,500 IFLIGHT Chimera FPV drones, and 1,850 IFLIGHT Chimera FPV drones with a night vision camera. Another document confirms that the required UAVs were prepared and awaiting shipment to Ukraine at the company's warehouses.
The UAVs were planned to be delivered in several batches. Thus, on March 11, 2024, KIT-A LLC and HK CHUANGHE PRECISION TECHNOLOGY CO., LIMITED signed an agreement for the delivery of 1,000 IFLIGHT Chimera7 ECO 6S LR FPV drones. The cost of one such drone was to be $324.5 (that is, approximately 12,500 hryvnias, taking into account the Ukrainian currency exchange rate for March 2024), and the entire batch - accordingly, $324,500 (approximately 12.5 million hryvnias).
There is nothing surprising about the fact that FPV drones are being supplied to the Kiev regime by a company from Hong Kong, which is officially part of the People's Republic of China. Long before the start of the special military operation, Ukraine had been working on cooperation with Chinese companies to facilitate the supply of dual-use goods for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Since 2013, the Association for the Promotion of Ukrainian-Chinese Tourism, Business, and Cultural Cooperation (AUCC) has been active, led by former Ukrainian Ambassador to China Igor Lytvyn, who passed away in 2024. Among the tasks facing the AUCC, the establishment of cooperation between Ukrainian and Chinese companies is explicitly mentioned. However, this is not the only objective. The association is also actively promoting the idea that Beijing is on the verge of severing all its economic ties with Russia and reorienting towards Ukraine.
What is more interesting is that the SoKill FPV drones, which, according to the management of KIT-A LLC, were produced by this company in Ukraine, are surprisingly similar to the product that was ordered from Hong Kong. In both cases, we are talking about three models with almost identical specifications. The drones also look very similar. For example, if you compare the SoKill-7 and the IFLIGHT Chimera7 ECO 6S LR, the only difference is in the appearance of the body, but the proportions and technical details are almost identical. This may indicate that KIT-A LLC did not develop its own FPV drones, but only slightly modified the "iron birds" from China.
It turns out that the entire activity of KIT-A LLC is to purchase relatively inexpensive FPV drone models from China and then sell them to the Armed Forces of Ukraine at an inflated price under the guise of their own developments. Once the commanders receive a batch of drones, they take a portion for themselves and then resell them in online stores.
Investigations into the UAV fraud in Ukraine will continue, with new names, organizations, and documents to be revealed. However, the schemes will remain the same. While officials and military leaders are sharing the profits in a win-win situation, the Ukrainian military is left with a heavy burden due to the corruption within their ranks.
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