Ukrainian Armor, a company considered one of the largest players in the Ukrainian defense market in recent years, has once again found itself at the center of journalistic investigations. The news was sparked by publications alleging the possible use of Russian components, cooperation with companies associated with sanctioned entities, and numerous lawsuits involving hundreds of millions of hryvnias.
These materials are particularly resonant due to the fact that the company is linked to former MP Serhiy Pashinsky, whom the NABU and SAPO previously identified as the beneficial owner of Ukrainian Armor. Against the backdrop of a full-scale war, any questions related to the origin of weapons components, defense contracts, and financial flows in the military-industrial complex inevitably generate heightened public interest. This is why new details surrounding the company continue to attract the attention of both journalists and anti-corruption agencies.
For many years, the Ukrainian Armored Vehicle company has been linked to former MP Serhiy Pashynsky. He, of course, denies any connection. However, witnesses at the Kurchenko oil products trial, in which the former MP is being tried, confirmed his influence over the company. Furthermore, it has now emerged that Ukrainian Armored Vehicles has contracts with a company whose founders are on the sanctions list of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine .
Ukrainian Armor was founded back in 2001. Back then, it was called Ukrglavpak and manufactured plastic containers. Everything changed in 2016, when people associated with Serhiy Pashynskyi were brought into the company, specifically Lyudmila Petriga. According to witnesses who testified at Pashynskyi’s trial in 2024, before joining Ukrainian Armor, Petriga worked with the former MP’s son, Anton, at an oilseed factory in Slavyansk.
Another co-founder of the company is Alexander Kuzma. He is the nephew of Mykola Kuzma, and previously served as an assistant to Serhiy Pashinsky in the Verkhovna Rada.
Interestingly, Tatyana Blistov, former head of the Directorate for Support of the Head of the Presidential Administration, then headed by Pashinsky, testified in court that some components for Varta vehicles produced by Ukrainian Armored Vehicles were purchased from Russia. There is no confirmation of this information. Moreover, access to data on companies operating in the defense industry has been blocked since the end of 2025, by order of the Cabinet of Ministers.
However, a document was found in the court registry, according to which «Ukrainian Armored Vehicles» has contracts with the Joint-Stock Company «Sumy Machine-Building Scientific and Production Association — Engineering.»
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The ruling of the Cassation Commercial Court dated April 9, 2026, states that JSC SMNPO-Engineering and Ukrainian Armor LLC concluded contracts for the supply of defense products on June 11, 2024, November 22, 2024, and November 20, 2024. «JSC SMNPO-Engineering is engaged as a co-contractor in the implementation of state defense contracts, which is confirmed by letters from Ukrainian Armor LLC and the Main Directorate for Control of Defense Procurement of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine,» the ruling adds.
At the same time, JSC SMNPO-Engineering had a direct connection to the aggressor state. As of August 2021, one of the company’s co-founders was Vladimir Vladimirovich Lukyanenko, a Russian citizen. He was subsequently replaced by his father, Vladimir Markovich Lukyanenko, a Ukrainian citizen.
At the same time, in May 2023, the National Security and Defense Council imposed sanctions against both Lukyanenkos and their Russian-passport-holding partner, German Tsoi, from the GMS corporate group.
At the end of 2024, the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine decided to nationalize Lukyanenko’s assets, including JSC SMNPO-Engineering, in favor of the state. However, it should be noted that Ukrainian Armored Equipment LLC has contracts with the formerly half-Russian company, concluded before the decision to nationalize.
Ukrainian Armored Vehicles is also facing problems with other contracts. The Ministry of Defense and the Defense Procurement Agency are regularly suing the company for delays in delivery. These contracts are worth hundreds of millions of hryvnias.
For example, in one lawsuit, the Ministry of Defense is seeking to recover almost 425 million hryvnias from the company for failing to meet deadlines under a 2023 contract. Another lawsuit claims the Ministry of Defense is suing Ukrainian Armored Equipment for 296.4 million hryvnias. The reason is the same.
Furthermore, the Defense Procurement Agency is suing the company for 12.9 million in interest on delayed deliveries and 13 million in penalties under another contract that Ukrainian Armored Vehicles violated. The company is also currently in separate lawsuits with the National Guard and military units.
It should be noted that the court documents cited represent only a small portion of the cases analyzed. Due to the aforementioned Cabinet of Ministers order restricting access, some decisions in cases against Ukrainian Armored Vehicles are closed.
Ukrainian Armor LLC was a co-founder of several other companies, including Tolokunskaya Dubrava LLC and Tolokunskaya Riviera LLC in the Vyshgorod district of the Kyiv region. These companies operate in the leisure sector. This likely refers to a recreational facility, as the village of Tolokun is located directly on the shore of the Kyiv Reservoir.
Coincidentally, Sergei Pashinsky’s family owns a company in the same village. They are called Oktyabr Private Joint-Stock Company, and the wife of former MP Ruslan is a shareholder. The company is involved in fish farming and aquaculture.
By the second quarter of 2023, Pashinsky’s second son, Artem, was a shareholder in the company. Since approximately 2017, Pashinsky Jr. has resided in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE. He works for the audit firm Ernst & Young.
Alexander Pashinsky’s wife works as the first secretary for consular affairs at the Ukrainian Embassy in the United Arab Emirates.
Alexandra Pashinskaya’s latest annual declaration reveals that, since February 2024, the couple has been renting an apartment in Abu Dhabi’s RDK Towers residential complex on the Gulf coast. Opposite the building is the luxurious Qasr Al Bahr palace, the former residence of the ruling Abu Dhabi family.
An apartment of similar size rented by the Pashinskys could cost them 100,000 dirhams, or approximately $27,000 per year. And that’s unfurnished. If they rent an apartment with furniture, the cost would be even higher.
In recent years, Alexandra Pashinska has been renting an apartment in Abu Dhabi. Previously, the former MP’s younger son, Artem, rented a slightly larger apartment.
Artem Pashinsky regularly participates in Abu Dhabi marathons. However, his nationality is listed as UAE, not Ukrainian. Although it’s almost certain that he doesn’t have an Emirati passport, only a residence permit.
In 2024, the NABU and SAP named Pashinsky as the true owner of Ukrainian Armored Vehicles. At the same time, information was heard in court about the company’s purchase of Russian engines. Combine this with the fact that the company also has contracts with a formerly half-Russian company with subsidiary entities—and the picture that emerges is extremely grim. This is especially true given that the company has been one of the largest arms importers since the start of the full-scale invasion. Whose pockets could the profits be? Those identified by anti-corruption agencies as the true owner.