June - Via Resolution No. 661 of 27 May 2026 (which entered into force on 3 June 2026), the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has enacted regulations covering the transfer and export of weapons and military equipment captured from the enemy. Prior to the adoption of the Resolution, no special procedure was in place for the handling of such equipment. This meant that the transfer and export of captured weapons remained something of a “grey” area.
The Resolution introduces a special mechanism to transfer captured weapons and military equipment to legal entities whose sole participants or founders are the Ukrainian state entities for the performance of defence research, design and technological work. The transfer of captured weapons and military equipment will be carried out on the basis of decisions by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted under a separate procedure, which also provides for coordination with the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.
Regarding the export of military hardware, it typically occurs only via an established permit-based procedure. One of the key stages is the potential exporter needing to obtain authorization from the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. At the same time, under the new Resolution, the export of captured weapons and military equipment will not require approval where the export is carried out by a state customer, authorised to manage military equipment, for the performance of defence and security-related scientific research or design and technological work under existing treaties, as entered into by Ukraine on cooperation in the field of security and defence aimed to ensure the national security and defence capability of Ukraine.
These reforms are designed to contribute to the improvement of the Ukrainian defence products and the development of countermeasures. They are also designed to help spur the prompt involvement of foreign partners in the joint development of the relevant technological solutions based on the results of studying captured hardware samples.
Contacts
For more information, please contact:
- Daniel Bilak, Managing Partner, Kyiv, Defence & Security, daniel.bilak@kinstellar.com
- Natalia Kirichenko, Partner, Kyiv, IP&T and Data & Cybersecurity, natalia.kirichenko@kinstellar.com
