CEO of one of Ukraine’s biggest drone makers just got raided. He also owns outlet that exposed 25 non-combat deaths at military unit

Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) raided drone manufacturer Vyriy Industries on 7 July after its CEO, Oleksii Babenko, whose media outlet, Babel, published an investigation into the Skelia unit. The investigative article has exposed numerous non-combat deaths in it two weeks before the raids.

The scandal has grown so large that it even prompted investigations by the Ukrainian ombudsman, while Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi described the situation as "a disgrace," per Hromadske. 

Babel editor-in-chief Kateryna Kobernyk said the timing "leads us to very bad conclusions." She added that "the accusations against Babenko will change nothing in our work in general, and with this topic in particular."

The SBI said it is investigating possible artificial inflation of drone prices in $157 million worth of 2025 state contracts. Babenko, at a press conference held more than 12 hours after searches began, called the allegation "absurd", as his drones sell for roughly 26% below market price on platforms where military units choose their own suppliers.

From Babel's investigation to raids

EP covered both prior episodes in this sequence. On 23 June, Babel published an investigation documenting 25 non-combat deaths among Skelia recruits, triggering an SBI criminal case, the commander's suspension, and a General Staff commission.

On 25 June, a serving Skelia soldier publicly called an author a "media killer" and accused Babel of working for Russia. A coalition of Ukrainian media organizations demanded criminal proceedings under Article 345-1—threats against a journalist—on 1 July. On 7 July, the SBI raided Babenko's home, his family members' homes, and the company.

According to Kobernyk, Babenko had been named in anonymous Telegram channels as the alleged financial backer of the Skelia investigation, accused of "encroaching on state security" and being "at war with the General Staff." A fake report claiming $5 million had been found at his home circulated days before the actual raids. The SBI has not named a suspect. Babenko is currently a witness.

This is not the only recent case of pressure on Ukrainian outlets reporting on state institutions.

What Vyriy is and what's at stake

Around a quarter of the Ukrainian army's first-person-view (FPV) drones are manufactured by Vyriy Industries, Babenko said. The company works with 212 military units. On the Brave1 Market and DOT-Chain defense procurement platforms, where units choose their own suppliers, Vyriy holds 33% of orders through DOT-Chain. The company says it has delivered 70,000 drones funded by European partner countries and has passed the strict compliance and ownership verification checks required by those international contracts.

The SBI stated its basis for the investigation: prices may have been inflated through the unjustified inclusion of production and administrative costs. Ukraine's State Financial Monitoring Service also flagged more than $4.4 million in suspicious financial transactions at Vyriy. The company said the 150 individual entrepreneurs flagged by investigators are legitimate component manufacturers—small, specialized producers standard across Ukraine's defense industry.

The searches caused Vyriy's daily drone deliveries to dip, though Babenko said the company would continue delivering tens of thousands of drones a day. The company said it would revise its security policy to protect production data, given that investigative materials could become public.

Broader warning

"I very much hope this case is genuinely a misunderstanding and not the beginning of a broader campaign against Ukraine's miltech companies," Maria Berlinska, a Ukrainian veteran and co-founder of the Victory Drones initiative, said.

Vyriy's statement said the company "does not rule out" that the simultaneous information campaign and investigative actions "may be part of attempts to discredit Vyriy Industries"—actions that "could benefit both the enemy and unscrupulous market participants."