Kyiv Court of Appeal keeps ex-Motor Sich chief Boguslaev in custody with hryvnia 466 million bail
The Kyiv Court of Appeal has rejected a defence request to transfer former Motor Sich head Vyacheslav Boguslaev from pretrial detention to house arrest. He remains in custody until 7 November, with an alternative bail set at 465,920,000 hryvnias, equivalent to 140,000 subsistence minimums.
Key points
- Kyiv Court of Appeal left Vyacheslav Boguslaev in custody until 7 November.
- Alternative bail set at 465,920,000 hryvnias (140,000 subsistence minimums).
- Defence asked for house arrest instead of detention; court refused.
- Boguslaev faces suspicion under Articles 111-1 (collaboration) and 111-2 (aiding the aggressor state) of Ukraine's Criminal Code, plus facilitating a terrorist organisation.
- Investigation: between December 2017 and October 2022 he and another official ran a Motor Sich branch in occupied Snizhne, Donetsk Oblast, and aided pro-Russian militants there.
- After the full-scale invasion they allegedly supplied Motor Sich goods to Russia's defence industry worth over hryvnia 72 million; 128 engines worth over hryvnia 2.48 billion were being prepared, with 7 engines (over hryvnia 136 million) actually delivered in May 2022.
- An additional suspicion was later added over an alleged order to remove helicopter rotor blades so Ukraine's military could not use them.
Why it matters
The case concerns one of Ukraine's most prominent aerospace executives, accused of feeding engines and materiel to Russia's military-industrial complex during the full-scale war and of sabotage against Ukraine's own armed forces, including allegedly disabling helicopters so they could not be used by Ukrainian troops. The court's decision to maintain detention and to keep in place a bail of more than 465 million hryvnias signals the severity with which the charges are being treated and is consistent with the gravity of wartime collaboration cases.
What happened
The Kyiv Court of Appeal considered the preventive measure for former Motor Sich head Vyacheslav Boguslaev and left him in pretrial detention. The court fixed custody until 7 November and set an alternative bail of 465,920,000 hryvnias — 140,000 subsistence minimums. The defence had asked that detention be replaced with house arrest; the court refused. The ruling continues the pretrial restraint in a case in which Boguslaev is suspected of collaboration activities, aiding the aggressor state and facilitating a terrorist organisation. Investigators say that between December 2017 and October 2022 he and another official operated a Motor Sich branch in the temporarily occupied city of Snizhne in Donetsk Oblast and assisted pro-Russian militants there. After the start of the full-scale invasion, they allegedly organised supplies of Motor Sich goods to Russia's military-industrial complex worth more than 72 million hryvnias, with 128 aircraft engines worth over 2.48 billion hryvnias prepared for delivery, of which seven engines (over 136 million hryvnias) were actually supplied in May 2022. Boguslaev was first placed in custody on 24 October 2022 after his detention at his Zaporizhzhia home on 22 October 2022, and was later served an additional suspicion over the alleged order to remove helicopter rotor blades so they could not be used by Ukrainian forces.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Both Ukrainian outlets in the source set frame the ruling as a procedural continuation of pretrial detention in a high-profile wartime collaboration case. They cite the court name, the precise bail figure of 465,920,000 hryvnias, the refusal to substitute house arrest, and the catalogue of Criminal Code articles, presenting the outcome as a routine step rather than a political signal.
Background
Boguslaev was first detained at his home in Zaporizhzhia on 22 October 2022 and was sent into custody by the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv on 24 October 2022. He faces a constellation of suspicions under several Criminal Code articles, including collaboration activities (Article 111-1), aiding the aggressor state (Article 111-2), facilitating a terrorist organisation and, separately, actions tied to an alleged order to remove helicopter rotor blades. Investigators say that between December 2017 and October 2022 he and another official set up the operation of a Motor Sich branch in the temporarily occupied city of Snizhne in Donetsk Oblast and helped pro-Russian militants in the region. According to the available reporting, four judges of the Kyiv Court of Appeal have themselves been suspected of taking a bribe in exchange for cancelling the arrest of his property, and President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed sanctions on Boguslaev in 2023 — including asset freezes and trade restrictions — which his defence is challenging in court.