InformNapalm and Militant Intelligence experts have uncovered evidence of cooperation between a Polish aircraft plant and Russia’s defense-industrial complex. They have obtained documents confirming schemes to bypass sanctions, international contracts, and Moscow’s financial operations.
InformNapalm is a volunteer project engaged in collecting and analyzing open-source intelligence on Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.
Plant in Łódź under scrutiny
At the center of the scandal is the Wojskowe Zakłady Lotnicze nr 1 aircraft plant in Łódź. The enterprise specializes in the repair and modernization of Soviet-era helicopters Mi-2, Mi-8 (17), Mi-14, and Mi-24. In recent years, it has also worked with equipment from Western manufacturers such as Sikorsky, AgustaWestland, and Eurocopter.
The plant services both the Polish Armed Forces and private clients, making it an important player in the European aviation sector.
€1.2 million transferred to Russia
According to the disclosed documents, on 20 January 2022, the enterprise transferred more than €926,000 to the account of the Russian company “Russian Helicopters” via Sberbank.
Just days later, on 26 January, another payment of over €319,000 followed. In total, Russia received nearly €1.2 million, less than a month before its all-out war against Ukraine.
Sanctions violations and support for the Kremlin
Experts emphasize that even if the payments were intended for the purchase of specific helicopter components used by NATO countries, such cooperation effectively supported Russia’s defense sector.
The transferred funds became direct financial assistance to the Kremlin’s defense industry, which was already preparing for a major war against Ukraine.
The announcement comes a week after the National Transportation Safety Board grilled aviation officials about safety gaps in the airspace near the capital.
The crash, which happened north of St. Louis, closed a bridge into Illinois. A witness said it “just disintegrated” after coming in contact with a power line.
A Ukrainian partisan blew up a Mi-28N helicopter—NATO reporting name “Havoc”—at a Russian airbase 550 km north of Ukraine, in what appears to be a bold sabotage operation deep inside Russian territory. Militarnyi reports that the aircraft was stationed at the 344th Combat Training and Flight Personnel Conversion Center near Torzhok in Tver Oblast.
This comes in the fourth year of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As Russia continues sabotage operations and air strikes deep inside Ukrainian territory, Kyiv responds with its own sabotage missions and deep drone strikes, targeting Russian military, defense industry, fuel, and logistics sites across Russia.
Ukrainian saboteur infiltrates Russian aviation base in Tver Oblast
According to Militarnyi, the Telegram channel People’s Resistance of Ukraine partisan movement released footage showing how a lone partisan managed to penetrate the restricted area of Russia’s only elite helicopter training center. The infiltrator planted two small explosive devices beneath the landing gear of a Mi-28N helicopter, which was parked in the open near the airstrip.
Although the actual detonation was not caught on camera, the group stated that the blast damaged or destroyed the aircraft. They added that Russian military authorities have concealed the fact of the intrusion and the subsequent explosion. Instead, the resistance movement pointed to local civilian reports from 31 May, which described hearing explosions and seeing smoke near the airbase.
Mi-28N helicopter destroyed at key Russian military hub
The Mi-28N helicopter, also designated in Russia as the “Night Hunter,” is valued at around $18 million. The 344th center where the sabotage occurred plays a central role in training and retraining pilots and maintenance crews for all variants of army aviation helicopters used by Russia’s Aerospace Forces and by partner nations. The center is also home to the Berkuts aerobatic team, which flies Mi-28N helicopters.
The Ukrainian Resistance Movement described the attack as part of its broader campaign to operate “deep in the enemy’s rear” and hinted at future strikes targeting other airfields and logistics hubs.
Previous sabotage cases inside Russian airbases
This is not the first case of sabotage reported deep within Russia. In 2022, Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate published footage showing explosive devices being planted on helicopters at a Russian airbase. That explosion reportedly destroyed two Ka-52 Alligator helicopters and seriously damaged two more aircraft. Russian media also reported on that incident.
Additionally, in early 2023, unknown saboteurs allegedly set fire to a Su-34 bomber at an airfield in Russia’s Cheliabinsk.
You could close this page. Or you could join our community and help us produce more materials like this.
We keep our reporting open and accessible to everyone because we believe in the power of free information. This is why our small, cost-effective team depends on the support of readers like you to bring deliver timely news, quality analysis, and on-the-ground reports about Russia's war against Ukraine and Ukraine's struggle to build a democratic society.
Become a patron or see other ways to support.
Hungary helps Russia by routing helicopter repairs through Kazakhstan while sourcing spare parts from Moscow, InformNapalm reports. InformNapalm is a volunteer intelligence community known for cyber operations exposing Russian military networks. Their latest release reveals a Hungarian company, Milspace Kft, offering a sanctions workaround for Russia’s Mil Design Bureau — the producer of Mi-series helicopters actively used against Ukrainian troops.
The leak comes amid the ongoing Russian invasion, with Russia under severe international sanctions aimed at crippling its war machine. Yet Russia has devised multiple schemes to evade these restrictions.
Leaked document exposes Hungary’s Milspace Kft in sanction evasion scheme
InformNapalm, working with the Militant Intelligence group, disclosed new data from the OpsHackRussia’sDay cyber operation. The dataset comes from hacked corporate correspondence of Russian defense industry companies. The latest document shows that Milspace Kft sent an official proposal to the Mexican company Personas y Paquetes Por Aire SA de CV. In this letter, Milspace Kft explains that Russian helicopter factories are under sanctions and offers a route to bypass these restrictions.
The leaked letter states:
“The Russian factory in Kazan, Mil Design Bureau and Holding of Russian Helicopters are under sanctions because of Ukrainen (original spelling, – Ed.) war. So, nobody can work with them directly. But we found a solution”
Milspace Kft proposes to act as the formal contractor while repairs would be done in a Kazakhstan plant licensed by Mil Design Bureau.
“Our Milspace is authorized organization of licensed by Mil Design Bureau repairing plant in Kazahstan. We are ready to participate in process of overhaul for your helicopters,” the leaked letter reads.
Spare parts would come from Moscow, specifically from Mi-INTER Ltd. The work would be supervised and coordinated with Mil Design Bureau and Russian Helicopters, both parts of Rostec, a large Russian state-owned conglomerate.
“Every of these organizations ready to participate in our repairing process, so the start was made successfully,” the document states.
In June, InformNapalm and the Militant Intelligence group exposed a trove of hacked documents from JSC Russian Helicopters, revealing its global sanction evasion network, with international contracts, supply routes, and payments linking the sanctioned manufacturer to partners and intermediaries from India to Egypt, Algeria, Indonesia, and beyond.
Evidence links Hungary to Russian helicopter support
InformNapalm reports that this letter details a service package worth $92,000. The plan includes a team of four “to carry out troubleshooting work on airframe and helicopters under a separate contract.”
The leaked correspondence shows that Hungary helps Russia through these indirect arrangements, even as the EU and NATO enforce sanctions.
Leaked letter from Hungarian company Milspace Kft to a Mexican firm describes a plan to bypass sanctions by repairing Russian helicopters through a plant in Kazakhstan with spare parts from Moscow. Source: Inform Napalm.
“Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has consistently shown loyalty to the Kremlin, delaying EU sanctions and blocking military aid to Ukraine through NATO and EU structures. Therefore, Milspace Kft’s involvement in these operations aligns with Budapest’s geopolitical position, which often conflicts with the core interests of both the EU and NATO,” Inform Napalm says.
Risks for EU and NATO security
InformNapalm warns that Hungary’s involvement undermines NATO collective security. The practice ensures that sanctioned Russian helicopters remain operational, despite restrictions. This leak also highlights a broader pattern of using Kazakhstan as a hub for maintaining Russian equipment, similar to previous findings from the #SU30Leaks series.
Hacktivists call on journalists and European officials to investigate these sanction evasion networks before they grow further. They note that more documents from the OpsHackRussiasDay operation will follow.
You could close this page. Or you could join our community and help us produce more materials like this.
We keep our reporting open and accessible to everyone because we believe in the power of free information. This is why our small, cost-effective team depends on the support of readers like you to bring deliver timely news, quality analysis, and on-the-ground reports about Russia's war against Ukraine and Ukraine's struggle to build a democratic society.
Become a patron or see other ways to support.
Connexion
