Journalists from Sledstvie Info conducted their own investigation and discovered that the Ukroboronprom corporation ordered thermal imagers and night vision devices from Odessa and Russia, disguised as American ones.
On December 8, the corporation's press service reported that its subsidiary, Ukrinmash, signed a number of contracts with ATN Corporation (USA) for the supply of military equipment for the needs of the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Guard, and the Ministry of Defense.
In search of more details, journalists attempted to contact ATN Director Mark Wayne, but were unsuccessful. Interestingly, ATN's California office responded to journalists in Russian. It turns out that Wayne's former surname was Morgovsky. A man with this surname was known to Odessans in the mid-2000s for his involvement in the Marine-Builder construction scam. He also turned out to be the owner of the Odessa-based company Sfera, which manufactures night vision devices and thermal imaging cameras for hunters. A year earlier, Sfera's director, Anatoly Korovitsky, explained in an interview that all of the company's products were intended for civilians, and that the images of military personnel in the company's brochures were merely a marketing gimmick. These products are not military equipment or dual-use goods. He also acknowledged that the company sells its products abroad, where they are subsequently purchased by Ukrainian businessmen, among others. Among the buyers of these products was the American company ATN. In addition, the Moscow company "Modern Optical Technologies" makes equipment to order for the Americans.
The investigation also revealed that Konstantin Timonkin heads ATN Corporation's international operations. He is the son of renowned banker Boris Timonkin, who worked for Serhiy Kurchenko. Ukrinmash is headed by Volodymyr Omelyanchuk, former deputy to former Defense Minister Mykhailo Yezhel.
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