The court continued the arrest of ex-president of the “Motor Sich” Bohuslaev

On June 5, the Kyiv Court of Appeal kept Vyacheslav Bohuslaev, the former president of the “Motor Sich” company, in custody without the right to bail. He will be in the pre-trial detention center until July 19.

Suspilne writes about this with reference to Bohuslaevʼs lawyer Ruslan Volynets.

According to lawyer Bohuslaev, the prosecutor, despite the completion of the investigation, asked to keep the preventive measure in force due to the risks of influencing witnesses, fleeing abroad, destruction or distortion of evidence, and continuation of the crime. Of them, the court supported the first two.

"Predictably, [the preventive measure] was extended. Although, in fact, ʼescape abroadʼ is a simple logical question. I tell the judges, now our meetings are held once a month, sometimes twice. We have, conditionally, 40 volumes of the case, 50 witnesses. That is, until the verdict, well, at best three years, or even all five. And why should he [Bohuslaev] run away now? If he knew that tomorrow he could be imprisoned for 15 years and he is running away, that is logical. He understands that the verdict will be in three or five years. Go to court, prove it. So why should he run away now?" says Bohuslaevʼs lawyer Volynets.

The next hearing in the case will be held in early July. Bohuslaevʼs defense attorney says that the lawyers, together with Bohuslaev, have almost familiarized themselves with the evidence in the case.

"With the witnesses, the situation has now gone beyond the limits of sustainable practice. The risk of influencing witnesses is usually removed when the investigation ends and the case is brought to court. Otherwise, itʼs a closed circle. Witnesses will be interrogated two years later, and all this time the person sits [in captivity]. We suggested in court: letʼs first interrogate the witnesses, and then we will examine the evidence. The prosecutor objected, the court supported, while we have such a situation," Volynets said.

The case of Bohuslaev

On October 22, 2022, the SBU detained Vyacheslav Bohuslaev, the former president of the “Motor Sich”. He is suspected of treason — he and the head of the department of foreign economic activity supplied Russia with aircraft engines for combat helicopters (even after a full-scale invasion). Boguslaev is currently in a pre-trial detention center. Ukraine introduced sanctions against him. The SBU later established that Bohuslaev blocked the delivery of the Mi-2 combat helicopter to the Main Directorate of Intelligence (known as GUR) of the Ministry of Defense in April 2022. He continued to communicate with Russian businessmen and officials who have access to the Russian high military command, and complained to them about factory strikes and looting by Russian soldiers. The SBI has already handed over the Mi-2 helicopter to the military.

On May 10, 2023, Schemes journalists discovered that Vyacheslav Bohuslaev asked the Office of the President of Ukraine to include him in the list for exchange to Russia.