“I don’t want to hear anything more from Timur about bulletproof vests” — this quote, which some may attribute to former Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, instantly spread across the Ukrainian internet.
The source of the quote is an excerpt from the indictment of Timur Mindich, a former business partner of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and co-owner of Kvartal 95, who became a key figure in a large-scale corruption scheme in Ukraine’s energy sector.
However, this episode does not concern energy, but defense, the next important block of Operation Midas, launched by NABU (The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine) and SAPO (or SAP, The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office). The quote about bulletproof vests in the suspicion actually belongs not to Umerov, but to Mindich himself.
The AIN editorial team can confirm this, as we have obtained the full text of the suspicion from our own sources.
The full quote goes like this: “Just have them sign the acceptance. That’s it. It’s one phone call for you, f*ck in the mouth. Just say [that] I don’t want to hear from Timur about bulletproof vests anymore, and I meet with him twice a week.”
Extended excerpt from Mindich’s indictment. The document states that the official is suspected of attempting to illegally influence the Minister of Defense in order to secure the acceptance and payment for a batch of bulletproof vests that did not pass quality control. Source: AIN
This excerpt from a conversation in a Kyiv apartment on Hrushevsky Street is mentioned in the context of Mindich’s possible illegal influence on Umerov, who was then serving as Minister of Defense.
The SAPO prosecutor also spoke about this influence during a hearing at the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC). The HACC considered the election of a measure against former Energy Minister Ihor Myroniuk, who is also involved in the case.
“Throughout 2025, Mindich’s criminal activities in the energy sector were established through his influence on the then Minister of Energy Galushchenko and in the defense sector through his influence on the then Minister of Defense Umerov,” the SAPO prosecutor noted.
Umerov responded publicly, confirming the meeting with Mindich and the discussion of bulletproof vests under the contract, while denying any connection between his work at the Ministry of Defense and the influence of “certain individuals.” “As a result, the contract was terminated due to the product’s non-compliance with requirements, and no product was delivered,” said the former defense minister.
So what influence and bulletproof vests were mentioned in the suspicion? The whole situation revolves around a tender in which the Ukrainian company MILIKON UA («МІЛІКОН ЮА») participated (and won).
The “Polish period” of Milikon UA
This story most likely began without any corruption involved, but it does feature fighting dogs, AR-15s, and cigars.
Photo from Milicon PL’s Instagram page
“Piotr, show us what you can do,” says Taras Borovskyi, a lawyer and member of the Panterivets military club, addressing a burly man with a beard and bright glasses that completely hide his eyes. “I’ll try,” he replies, in English with an accent, and shoots at targets at a shooting range in Kyiv.
The shooter’s name is Piotr Remiszewski. According to records, he is 49 years old, and apart from pickup trucks and cigars, he probably values only weapons. The son of a military manRemiszewski mentioned this fact in an interview with Borovsky. , Piotr first picked up a rifle when he was about five years old. Ultimately, his life’s work is connected with weapons — the Polish company Milicon, which has a production facility in the United States, where they manufacture modified AR-15-based carbines. They have also been supplied to Ukraine.
Milicon PL also has an official website, which states that it is a military store selling firearms, sporting weapons, and hunting weapons.
The interview, which begins with Remiszewski demonstrating his shooting skills, was recorded in 2023. At that time, Piotr was celebrating his birthday in Kyiv. With a cigar in his hand and an Azovstal bracelet on his wrist, he said that it was his conscious choice to come to a country where a full-scale war is going on for his birthday. Remiszewski began helping Ukraine even before the large-scale invasion, in 2014 — when, as he himself says, it was not yet mainstream.
Acknowledgement to Piotr Remiszewski from military unit A4435. Source: Fundacja Milicon, Facebook page
“In Ukraine, we earn so little money that if this were a business, we would have closed it down on the third day,” is how Piotr describes Milikon UA’s work. At the time of the interview, the company had been in existence for about a year. The LLC of the same name was registered in 2022 by Piotr and his business partner Oleksandr Tsiurupalo, and it had not participated in any tenders.
“Sasha is now the owner and manager of a company that imports American Milicon AR-15 rifles to Ukraine,” Borovskyi introduces Tsiurupalo immediately after the video interview with the Polish man.
At this point, we will pause the story of the Ukrainian Milicon (we will return to it a little later). Let’s move on to another company, this time a foreign one, which unsuccessfully — until a certain point — applied for Ukrainian defense tenders.
Israeli helmets and bulletproof vests. How MASADA appears in Ukrainian tenders
A video showing a bullet flying through the air and turning into the MASADA ARMOUR logo is the main page of the website of an Israeli manufacturer of personal protective equipment against firearms and cold weapons, or, in simple terms, bulletproof vests and related products.
Founded in 2009, the company positions itself as a global leader in this field. Its products include ballistic helmets, body armor, ballistic shields, and individual protection solutions. The full product catalog is available in English and can be downloaded from the website.
The Israeli company participated in Ukrainian procurement for the first time in January 2024. The customer, the Defense Procurement Agency, announced a tender for 20,000 full-size combat ballistic helmets. MASADA ARMOUR Soy Ltd is listed in the tender as a participant with an initial (UAH 184.924 million) and final (UAH 155 million) bid.
In February of the same year, MASADA ARMOUR participated in a tender for the purchase of 10,000 sets of modular body armor with an expected value of UAH 420 million. The customer was also the Defense Procurement Agency. MASADA’s bid contained the company’s final offer of UAH 334,677,888, the lowest price among the participants.
In total, MASADA ARMOUR submitted bids for four Ukrainian tenders — and failed every time. The Israeli manufacturer found a workaround in the form of Ukrainian LLCs, whose KVED (a four-digit digital code used in Ukraine to classify economic activities) codes and owners were quickly changed a few days before the start of the bidding.
The return of the Jedi MASADA ARMOUR . “Fortress of Protection” and Brenig Haim
In December 2024, another companyAmong them are UKRTAK.UA LLC, which is involved in criminal proceedings for possible intentional evasion of taxes and fees, and TEMP-3000 LLC, which has been embroiled in scandals involving the supply of poor-quality bulletproof vests. joined the tenders for the purchase of bulletproof vests, which were usually monopolized by Ukrainian companies: FORTRESS OF PROTECTION LLC, offering the lowest price.
Fortress of Protection is not a new manufacturer on the Ukrainian market — nor is it a manufacturer at all. It positions itself as a distributor of the Israeli company MASADA ARMOUR, which has never managed to become a supplier of bulletproof vests to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
What is known about Fortress of Protection? The LLC, registered in 2020, was originally called KAKTUS LIMITED and had the main KVED code “Employment agency activities.” In 2024, the company’s name in the registers was changed to FORTETSYA ZAKHYSTU LLC (Fortress of Protection, ТОВ «ФОРТЕЦЯ ЗАХИСТУ») with the main KVED code “Non-specialized wholesale trade.” Later, in June of the same year, the company changed its founder and beneficial owner: it became lawyer Dmytro Stetsenko.
However, it was also not possible to enter the defense procurement market through the Ukrainian LLC distributor MASADA ARMOUR.
“Fortress of Protection” won, but no contract was signed with it, because the state operator [DOT — ed.] canceled the tender, as the participating companies, including Fortress of Protection, did not comply with the Ministry of Defense’s requirements for the goods being purchased [sic],” Stetsenko said in a comment to AIN.
DOT refers to the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ clarification regarding the mandatory license to sell from a Ukrainian manufacturer that has a license to produce personal protective equipment (PPE). Similarly, a distributor selling the products of a non-resident company must have a license to sell in Ukraine. In the context of defense procurement, Fortress of Protection, which sold MASADA ARMOUR products in Ukraine, did not have such a license.
And on May 5, 2025, Haim Brenig became the ultimate beneficial owner of Fortress of Protection.
Brenig (James) Haim. Source: James Brenig on LinkedIn
On his LinkedIn profile, he describes himself as follows: “A business leader with extensive experience in all aspects of management, operations, and finance. Successful track record working with startups and enterprises in various industries, including real estate, media, finance, consulting, and F&B.”
So who is Haim (or James, as he presents himself on social media) Brenig really? According to public records, he is a 35-year-old citizen of Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, and is registered at 14 Governor’s Lane. Companies and addresses associated with him appeared in a large-scale investigation into offshore companies, the Paradise Papers, by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
It is noteworthy that the address linked to Brenig that was revealed in these materials is located just a few houses away from his registered address in Ukrainian registries — at 6 Governor’s Lane.
Haim Brenig is currently associated with at least seven companies abroad and two in Ukraine: Fortress of Protection and Milikon UA. It is likely that Brenig and his companies may be acting as one of the links in the chain of money laundering abroad.
“We are confident that British citizen Haim Brenig is actively involved in concealing and laundering funds belonging to Ukrainian citizens. These funds were obtained by representatives of the ‘Mindich group’ through bribery, extortion, and corruption,” according to the conclusions reached by the Public Anti-Corruption Council under the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
Although Brenig usually shares new projects on his social media accounts, he does not publicly mention Ukrainian companies.
So how is Brenig connected to MASADA ARMOUR? We asked him and the CEO of the bulletproof vest manufacturer, Snir Koren, but have not yet received a response. The editorial team will update this article as soon as we receive a reply.
At the same time, Brenig is involved in the Jewish community, as evidenced by his social media accounts: he is a member of a group on business between the UAE and Israel and was the executive director of KosherFoods in the United Arab Emirates.
MASADA ARMOUR was founded and operates in Israel. At the same time, Timur Mindich is currently in the same country.
And again, MILIKON UA. How a Ukrainian LLC was bought the day before the tender
“We only supplied goods to private individuals. We officially submitted reports, officially imported and sold goods,” says Tsiurupalo in a comment to AIN about the activities of MILIKON UA, referring to the sale of AR-15 rifles imported from Poland.
But at the time of the company’s sale in February 2025, according to Tsiurupalo, Milikon had not imported any goods for six months. He explains these delays by logistical problems on the Polish side and delivery from American manufacturers: “Because of this, we did not have goods or stocks to continue our activities, but we still had to pay rent and taxes, so we already had a small deficit.” Therefore, both founders agreed to the proposal to sell the company.
The purchase of the LLC took place just days before the tender for the purchase of bulletproof vests, which DOT announced on February 11, 2025. The acceptance of bids lasted from February 12 to 22. On February 18, 2025, the founder of FORTETSIA ZAKHYSTU LLC (51%) and Dmytro Stetsenko (as an individual founder) were added to MILIKON UA LLC, while founders Oleksandr Tsiurupaloand Piotr Remiszewski were removed. On February 19, Stetsenko is added as a beneficial owner, while Tsiurupalo and Remiszewski are removed from the list of beneficiaries.
MILIKON UA LLC is being transferred to FORTETSIA ZAKHISTU LLC and is applying for the tender as a distributor of MASADA ARMOUR. In fact, this could have been the first full-fledged victory for the Israeli manufacturer in Ukrainian procurement: DOT and MILIKON UA LLC even signed a contract for the supply of body armor, which was also eventually terminated.
Corruption in Ukraine and agreements to rename MILIKON UA LLC. How Remiszewski decided to sell the business
Piotr Remiszewski agrees to talk to the AIN editorial office, but on condition that the conversation is not recorded. He gets in touch from his smartphone while sitting in his car and sends greetings from Arizona, USA.
Piotr’s other condition is not to talk about the activities of the Ukrainian LLC MILIKON UA after the sale. Piotr, who owned the majority of the company’s shares, has not been the beneficial owner since February 2025.
Just like in his conversation with Borovskyi, Remiszewski recalls helping Ukraine since 2014. For this, he says, he has been called a “Nazi” more than once. In March 2022, Piotr recalls, he crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border, brought aid, and helped civilians with evacuation.
Despite his affection for Ukraine, Piotr does not want to do business here. The word “corruption” was probably the one he repeated most often during our conversation. Milikon’s experience as a business was unsuccessful: the company suffered losses.
However, Tsiurupalo and Remiszewski cite different reasons for deciding to sell the business: the former says he lacked the time to develop the company, while the latter says he does not want to do business in Ukraine because of the high level of corruption. They agree on Milikon’s unprofitability.
This is where MASADA ARMOUR comes back into the story. It was its representatives who approached Piotr with an offer to buy the company — at least according to Remiszewski himself. He noted that he had known about the Israeli manufacturer for quite some time, but did not specify the exact dates or the people he had been in contact with.
He also mentioned the company through which Milikon was sold: Fortress of Protection.
Piotr also asked whether the LLC still had the same name, as there had been a verbal agreement to rename the company when the sale was agreed upon. However, Milikon UA remains unchanged, and it is this company that appears in both defense procurement documents and the text of the suspicion against Timur Mindich.
(Un)signed procurement contract and (un)familiarity with Haim. What Tsiurupalo and Stetsenko say
According to Tsjurupalo, he is not familiar with representatives of the Israeli company MASADA ARMOUR and was not involved in communications regarding the sale of the company.
During his first conversation with AIN, he denied his involvement in the tender in which Milikon participated. At the same time, the minutes of February 25, 2025, indicate that the agenda included granting powers to the director of the Company, Oleksandr Tsyurupalo, to sign a state procurement contract.
Screenshot of the minutes of the general meeting of MILIKON UA LLC participants, at which the chair of the meeting was approved and the director was granted the authority to sign a state contract for the purchase of bulletproof vests. Source: Zakupivli.Pro
Tsiurupalo was also designated as the person authorized to sign a state contract for procurement with DOT following a simplified procurement procedure for “Modular bulletproof vests (Type 2, Level P, Type 5, set 1-5) (DK 021:2015: 35810000-5: Individual Equipment) ID: UA-2025-02-12-015060-a.” MILIKON UA was declared the winner of this tender.
Screenshot of the minutes of the general meeting of participants of MILIKON UA LLC. The document records the decision of the meeting of participants to authorize the director of Milkon UA LLC to sign a state contract for the supply of modular bulletproof vests, in the procurement of which the company was declared the winner. Source: Zakupivli.Pro
After clarification with reference to the protocol, Tsiurupalo commented that he had indeed signed the submitted application, because “the company did not have time to transfer all powers,” but, according to him, he did not sign the contract itself.
However, the suspicion against Timur Mindich, the text of which was made available to AIN, mentions a state contract (agreement) between DOT — on behalf of Victoria Vinogradova — and MILIKON UA LLC — on behalf of Oleksandr Tsiurupalo.
We also tried to find out what connection, other than distribution, exists between FORTETSIA ZAKHYSTU LLC and MASADA ARMOUR. Dmytro Stetsenko replied to AIN that the relationship is governed “exclusively by officially concluded distribution agreements.”
“All other requested details concerning internal economic operations, ownership structure, and commercial agreements are considered trade secrets and are not subject to public disclosure,” he said.
According to him, FORTETSIA ZAKHYSTU LLC carried out certification (obtaining compliance with the Technical Specifications of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine) of MASADA ARMOUR products (goods).
“The relevant tests and military field trials were conducted, and a reference sample of the bulletproof vest was approved by the Ministry of Defense (manufactured by MASADA ARMOUR) for further steps toward possible participation in public procurement,” Stetsenko told AIN.
Personal acquaintance with Brenig Haim Stetsenko did not confirm or deny this to AIN, citing that it was “a private matter and not related to the company’s official communications.”
According to Stetsenko, Haim is indeed the ultimate beneficial owner of the company, “it was he who made the decision to acquire the corporate rights of Fortress of Protection.” However, Stetsenko also does not comment on the details of the corporate agreement, including the terms of the acquisition of the stake and the change of the ultimate beneficiary, citing corporate secrecy. Here is his quote:
“Mr. Haim may have communicated (or is communicating) with Masada as the manufacturer of the specified goods within the framework of supply agreements on the part of the manufacturer. This contact was solely due to the need to ensure the fulfillment of supply and distribution agreements between our companies. This interaction is part of normal business activity and does not go beyond the commercial relations established in accordance with the agreements concluded.”
He referred to commercial secrecy in response to questions about the financial terms of the acquisition of corporate rights and internal business plans.
We also tried to find out how Dmytro Stetsenko, who, according to his wife’s post on social media, joined the National Guard of Ukraine in 2022, combines this activity with the management of Milikon and Fortress of Protection.
Dmytro Stetsenko in the uniform of the Ukrainian National Guard. Source: screenshot from Stetsenko’s wife’s Instagram page
When asked whether he would continue his service, Stetsenko did not respond, noting that he was “the head of the operating company Milikon (Fortress), which was the direct representative (under a distribution and subsequent supply agreement) of the Israeli company Masada, which is the manufacturer of the proposed product.”
Why DOT terminated its contract with Milikon
The State Logistics Operator, which carried out the procurement, explains that a new tender to replace the one won by Fortress of Defense, and subsequently won by MILIKON UA LLC, was necessary because the Armed Forces’ need for body armor was only growing.
According to the operator, in 2023, the Ministry of Defense covered only about 20% of the demand for body armor. With the advent of DOT in 2024, the percentage of the army’s needs covered in the same year was 67%, and later increased to 83% — after the delivery of overdue shipments at the beginning of the following year.
Therefore, the State Logistics Operator says that it has decided to announce tenders in advance, conclude longer contracts, and involve foreign manufacturers — but only those with the appropriate licenses not only for production but also for sale.
“After receiving official confirmation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs regarding the need for both documents, these requirements were included in the tender documentation. However, due to the inability to make these changes to the current procurement procedure on Prozorro, the tenders were canceled, and new ones were announced,” according to the DOT publication.
At the same time, Tetiana Nikolaienko, deputy chair of the Public Anti-Corruption Council at the Ministry of Defense, says that Ukrainian manufacturers had the licenses that Fortetsya did not have.
“And instead of supporting Ukrainian producers, DOT canceled the tender because it chose the interests of a specific individual, Mindich, over those of Ukrainian producers,” she continues in her post.
In its post, DOT insists that some key Ukrainian manufacturers did not have a license to sell, and that Ukrainian companies were allegedly unable to fully meet the demand for body armor due to limited production capacity.
As a result, Milikon UA LLC, with the lowest price, won the new tender and, according to the DOT, submitted a complete set of documents. However, the manufacturer “failed to ensure the proper quality,” so on August 29, 2025, the DOT terminated the contract with Milikon UA. No payments were made under the contract, and now they are trying to collect a fine of more than UAH 97 million from the company.
Yuriy Gudymenko, head of the public anti-corruption council at the Ministry of Defense, emphasizes that new revelations from the “Mindich tapes” confirm that it is Mindich who brings together all the elements of this scheme.
“It is not difficult to guess who is trying to hide behind the British citizen after the NABU investigation. Dmytro Stetsenko is the director of Fortetsia Zakhistu and Milikon, as well as the director of the companies VEL MIT and Vegi Trend Invest. The minority owner of Vegitrend Invest and founder of VEL MIT is Vasyl Vesely, who also appears in the Mindich tapes and is referred to as the “overseer” of Sens Bank and the actual owner of the Ocean Plaza shopping center in Kyiv,” he writes.
The infographic highlights Timur Mindich’s ties to companies and individuals involved in the defense sector, with an emphasis on potential corruption risks. Infographic: Yuriy Gudymenko on Telegram
The head of the GAR also drew attention to other companies associated with the aforementioned Haim Brenig. He is the director of more than ten British and Gibraltar companies, such as GREY ROCK SOLUTIONS LTD, ASB GIB LTD, BEACON SALT LIMITED, and ISF DIGITAL UK LTD.
The lion’s share of these companies are similar to “fake” companies created for the purpose of systematic tax minimization. This suggests that Haim Brenig is not only a “pound” but also a specialist in legalizing funds in offshore jurisdictions. […] Therefore, we are confident that British citizen Haim Brenig is actively involved in concealing and laundering the funds of Ukrainian citizens. These funds were obtained by representatives of the “Mindich group” through bribery, extortion, and corruption,” Gudymenko concludes.
We contacted the DOT and Haim Brenig for details and clarification, but as of the publication of this article, we have not received a response. As soon as we do, we will add it to the text.
We would like to thank Anastasiia Ivantsova, Veronika Khorolska, Tetiana Nikolaienko, and Yuriy Gudymenko for their help in preparing this material.
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https://en.ain.ua/2025/11/20/investigation-how-mindich-got-involved-in-defense-procurement/