Sviatoshynskyi District Court of Kyiv has sentenced Serhii Drozd, director of the Mykolaiv-based firm «DM Sport,» for assisting the aggressor state through an illicit scheme to evade sanctions and supply dual-use industrial bearings. The court approved a plea bargain, handing down a five-year prison sentence suspended with a three-year probation period.
According to court records, the defendant and his accomplices established a large-scale network for the illegal import and export of industrial bearings used in Russia’s defense, mechanical engineering, and aviation industries.
Between June 2022 and April 2025, Drozd facilitated the delivery of 32 shipments of Russian-manufactured bearings to Ukraine and the European Union. The goods were purchased directly from sanctioned Russian enterprises, including OJSC EPK Samara and the Moscow Aviation Bearing Plant.
The logistical route passed through Belarus, from where the cargo was transported into Ukraine—specifically via the Uzhhorod checkpoint on the Zakarpattia customs border—using postal operators and commercial drivers. To conceal financial transactions, payments to Russian manufacturers were settled in cryptocurrency, totaling the equivalent of $80,000.
Additionally, in 2024, the executive organized the shipment of bearings to the Russian company TK Azimut (Chuvashia), an active participant in Russian state procurement contracts, notably for the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN). The total value of shipments to the Russian entity reached 744.9 million rubles.
During the preliminary hearing, the prosecutor and the defendant concluded a plea bargain agreement. Serhii Drozd unconditionally pled guilty under Part 2, Article 28, and Part 1, Article 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Assisting the Aggressor State) and voluntarily transferred 200,000 UAH to a specialized account supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
«Find the defendant guilty of the offense and sentence him under Article 69 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine to 5 years of imprisonment, with a 10-year disqualification from holding public office, without confiscation of property,» the court ruling stated.
Pursuant to Articles 75 and 76 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the convict was released from serving the primary prison sentence, subject to a three-year probation period. Furthermore, the court lifted the asset seizure on the convict’s real estate (a share of land and a building), returned seized mobile phones, and refunded the bail amount of 242,000 UAH to the guarantor.