Property seizures, pressure, and dragging out cases: a retired judge named signs of politically motivated cases
Kyiv • UNN
Retired judge Denys Nevyadomsky spoke about how to identify politically motivated criminal proceedings used to pressure businesses. He named signs of such cases, including investigators' focus on pressure rather than evidence collection, property seizures, and dragging out investigations.
Businesses often resort to competitive warfare and involve law enforcement agencies in this. Through custom-made criminal proceedings, dishonest players destroy competitors and seize markets. UNN asked retired judge Denys Nevyadomsky how to recognize custom-made criminal cases.
According to Nevyadomsky, an experienced lawyer can quickly determine that a criminal proceeding is custom-made. The key indicator is the investigators' focus not on collecting evidence, but on exerting systemic pressure on the company and its employees.
Among the typical tools of such pressure, Nevyadomsky named property seizures, including equipment, which paralyzes the company's operations.
The lawyer paid special attention to the practice of frequent summonses of employees for interrogations, which are used for psychological pressure and to create an atmosphere of constant tension within the company.
Another characteristic feature of custom-made cases, the retired judge called the deliberate dragging out of the investigation, so that investigators would not lose control over the criminal proceedings for as long as possible. At the same time, in custom-made cases, suspicion is often not served on the defendants, which does not start the procedural terms of the investigation.
An experienced lawyer will be able to determine whether a case is custom-made. The main signs are: investigators focusing on exerting pressure, not collecting evidence; imposing arrests and choosing a preventive measure as an end in itself, stopping business activities by seizing equipment (instead of extracting information), frequent summonses of employees for interrogations to increase tension, disseminating information about criminal proceedings through controlled media, dragging out the case (not sending the case to court for as long as possible so as not to transfer control over it to the court), not serving suspicion (this does not start the preclusive terms of the investigation, and in wartime, a case under suspicion can last forever)
In such a situation, according to the lawyer, the business owner against whom a custom-made criminal proceeding is being investigated can understand with whom he has a conflict of interest.
Custom-made cases against a group of aviation companies
One of the striking examples of custom-made persecution and pressure on business is the case against a number of airlines. As UNN previously wrote, at the end of 2022, the National Police opened criminal proceedings No. 12022000000001276 against a group of aviation companies, including "Aviakompaniya Konstanta". Formally, the investigation concerns alleged complicity with the aggressor state and property seizure. The case was opened based on a statement by the head of the NGO "Council of ATO Veterans" Pavlo Moshkovsky, which is associated with the company "Ukrainian Helicopters".
In the statement, he spoke about a "conspiracy theory" allegedly aimed at weakening Ukraine's economic security and seizing strategic enterprises in the aviation industry, in particular SE "Antonov", which, by the way, continues to be state-owned. At the same time, after almost four years of investigation, no facts confirming these claims have been established.
Despite the fact that crimes under Article 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine fall under the jurisdiction of the SBU, the proceedings were investigated by the Main Investigation Department of the National Police until 2025, after which they were transferred to the SBU. In parallel, investigators initiated large-scale searches, seizure of equipment, and arrest of company accounts, which effectively paralyzed economic activity and led to the disruption of contracts, including for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and international humanitarian missions.
It should be noted that similar criminal proceedings, opened on the same statements by the NGO "Council of ATO Veterans" in the SBU and the SBI, had previously been closed due to the absence of a crime. In addition, according to UNN, the SBU and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine officially confirmed the absence of grounds for applying sanctions against the "Konstanta" group of companies.
The companies emphasize that all foreign counterparties, particularly in the UAE, underwent strict international compliance, and no state bank recorded suspicious financial transactions.
PJSC "Aviakompaniya Konstanta" is a permanent official carrier for international humanitarian missions and non-profit organizations, and also fulfills orders for partner states, including NATO countries. The company is one of the leading operators of "Antonov" aircraft and the operator of the largest fleet of An-26s, which makes it an important part of Ukraine's aviation capability. The enterprise has established a full cycle of maintenance for aircraft manufactured by SE "Antonov".
Since 2019, the company has been an official UN partner and holds EASA TCO, UK TCO, and US FAA certificates, thus meeting the highest international requirements. The group's airlines regularly undergo UN inspections and audits as part of vendor due diligence, performance, and compliance audits, which further confirms compliance with transparency requirements. The high level of trust from international partners is confirmed by the appointment of retired US Army Major General David L. Grange as Chairman of the Supervisory Board in 2024.
The group's airlines have the status of critically important enterprises for the functioning of the economy and ensuring the vital activity of the population during a special period, granted by the State Aviation Service of Ukraine. The airlines also have the status of critically important enterprises in the field of aviation transport, granted by the Ministry of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine.
The aviation industry is a strategic component of Ukraine's infrastructure, which is critical both during the war and after its end. Enterprises in the sector support and strengthen the state's defense capabilities, replenish the budget with taxes, and provide employment both in their own sphere and in related ones. Aviation is a driver of Ukraine's technological development, relying on innovations and the unique experience of specialists accumulated over decades of professional development.
Pressure on strategic Ukrainian enterprises through obviously dubious and protracted criminal proceedings is not just a problem for a single business. It undermines the capabilities of sectors that work for defense, humanitarian missions, international trust, and the country's future recovery. The destruction or paralysis of strategic Ukrainian business can be beneficial to the aggressor state and should be considered a risk factor that requires special attention from institutions.
In this situation, the key is to prevent the use of the law enforcement system as a tool for competitive wars: transparent procedural decisions, return of seized property and equipment, adherence to deadlines, and proper judicial control are needed. Protecting strategic aviation during wartime is protecting the state.