Ukraine arrests richest citizen on links to Russia

Ukraine's SBU intelligence service said Sunday it had detained two officials of Ukrainian aircraft engine maker Motor Sich on suspicion of working with Russia.

SBU "detained the president of industrial giant Motor Sich, he is suspected of working with the Russian Federation," it said in a statement.

The SBU also detained the company's department head for foreign economic activities, it added.

It did not provide the names of the detained.

Their detention is part of a criminal probe into "the illegal supply by Motor Sich of military goods for Russian attack aircraft", the SBU added.

They are held on suspicion of "collaborative activity" and "assistance to the aggressor state".

The SBU said the management of the company's plant in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region -- part of which is controlled by Russian forces -- "acted in collusion" with Russian state-owned defence conglomerate Rostec.

"The suspects established transnational channel for the illegal supply of wholesale batches of Ukrainian aircraft engines to the aggressor country," the SBU said, specifying that Russia used them to produce and repair attack helicopters.

These models of helicopter were used "en masse" during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to the SBU.

It added that they bypassed sanctions by selling the engines to companies in the Middle East, Europe and East Asia that were making orders for the needs of a "foreign party".

Motor Sich makes engines for helicopters and aircraft, as well as industrial turbines.

Russia was the company's biggest client until 2014, when Moscow annexed Crimea.