Millions from KhAZ, Moscow, and the Gauleiter’s Chair: How Fraudster Suntsov "Earned" 17 Years in Prison. Details…

This is the second sentence for a man whose biography serves as a manual on how to transform from a state top manager to a traitorous collaborator in just ten years.

The case that earned Suntsov 9 years dates back to 2013–2015. This "effective manager" drained over 30 million UAH from the state aviation giant (roughly $2 million and half a million euros at the time).

The scheme was a classic for the "Ukroboronprom" of that era: funds were transferred to a foreign firm for alleged "agency services" in selling military goods abroad. In reality, the firm was controlled by Suntsov’s acquaintance—a German citizen—and no services were ever rendered. Furthermore, Suntsov managed to siphon off prepayments for aviation systems that never even reached KhAZ's workshops, forging documents to cover his tracks.

In January 2021, sensing the heat from a NABU investigation, Suntsov packed his bags and fled through the Hoptivka checkpoint toward the Russian Federation. Moscow welcomed the "highly qualified specialist" with open arms; within a month, he became a department head at "Borisfen," a company specializing in aircraft engine maintenance.

However, Suntsov’s true "finest hour" came with the full-scale invasion. In May 2022, he resurfaced in occupied Zaporizhzhia as a deputy to the Gauleiter, Yevhen Balitsky.

Today, Suntsov serves as the "Deputy Head of the Government" for the occupiers, overseeing infrastructure and the energy sector. Witnesses have spotted him in Melitopol under the protection of twenty Russian soldiers. Apparently, the "people's love" for this collaborator is so great that he fears stepping out toward the city council without a squad of riflemen.

His "achievements" in the service of the enemy are notable: in 2025, he received the "Labor Glory" medal from the Russian Ministry of Energy. However, Ukrainian courts evaluate his talents differently:

July 2024: 8 years for collaboration.

April 2026: 9 years for embezzlement and forgery.

The fate of Ihor Suntsov is a perfect illustration of how corruption becomes the foundation for high treason. A man who spent years looting a defense plant in Kharkiv naturally ended up in the seat of an occupation official. Today he sits in meetings with Russian ministers, but tomorrow—he will either be in a cozy cell of a Ukrainian pretrial detention center (the in-absentia sentence will become reality sooner or later), or... the story of such figures usually ends with "bavovna" (explosions) faster than the ink dries on a HACC verdict.

The Kharkiv Aviation Plant, which Suntsov tried to bleed dry, still stands. Meanwhile, the property of the "medalist" himself is now subject to full confiscation in favor of the state he so cynically betrayed.

This material was created within the framework of the project of the Institute of Mass Information with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.