Ukrainian Receives Suspended Sentence for Transferring Military Pilot Training Software to Belarus

Reform.news · 1 October 2026, 17:58

https://reform.news/en/ukrainian-receives-suspended-sentence-for-transferring-military-pilot-training-software-to-belarus/

A Ukrainian court has sentenced a Ukrainian citizen to a two-year suspended sentence for transferring software to Belarus for the KTS-21M stationary integrated military training simulator. He was found guilty of circumventing sanctions and violating rules governing the international transfer of dual-use goods and services, Radio Svaboda reports, citing the court ruling.

The defendant fully admitted his guilt and reached a plea agreement with prosecutors. The court sentenced him to two years in prison but suspended the sentence with a two-year probation period. During this period, he will be supervised by probation authorities and will not be allowed to leave Ukraine without special permission.

According to investigators, the software was transferred no later than June 2025 via a messaging app. The Ukrainian allegedly received $1,000 for it.

Several Ukrainian citizens were mentioned in the case. According to investigators, one of them works in Belarus for Aeromash Production Technologies and Aircraft Engineering Group CJSC in Machulishchy near Minsk.

The company is involved in aviation engineering, ranging from design and development to manufacturing, repair and modernization. It integrates simulators of various levels into a single network and develops training programs for pilots and engineers. KTS-21M simulators are used to train pilots of MiG-29 military aircraft.

The defendant previously worked as a designer of modular electronic aviation simulators for Mi-8 and Mi-24 military helicopters, MiG-29 fighter jets and Il-76 military transport aircraft. He transferred the technology to his former colleague at the Institute of Automated Systems of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.