Paying for drones with Ukrainian grain: how Vazha Dzhashi organized covert grain supplies to Iran for Russia’s drone program

Paying for drones with Ukrainian grain: how Vazha Dzhashi organized covert grain supplies to Iran for Russia’s drone program

The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) is reportedly investigating a scheme involving the supply of Ukrainian grain to Iran in violation of existing restrictions on trade with Iranian entities. According to investigators, the grain may have been used as part of Russia’s payments for Shahed drones, which are used in attacks against Ukraine.

This is indicated by rulings of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kiev, according to an investigation by EP. The case, according to journalists, was opened in November 2022 and is being handled by the Main Investigation Department of the SSU under the procedural supervision of the Office of the Prosecutor General. The investigation concerns articles related to assisting an aggressor state and aiding in the conduct of an aggressive war.

At this stage, no individual has been officially charged. At the same time, investigators are examining the version that Ukrainian grain supplies to Iran were used as one of the elements of cooperation between Russia and Iran in providing the Russian military with strike drones.

Grain for Shaheds: how the scheme may have operated

According to the investigation, supplies of Ukrainian grain to Iran were organized by Russian citizen Vazha Dzhashi through companies under his control. Law enforcement officials claim that officials of Ledesma Agro LLC may have been involved in the scheme, allegedly arranging shipments of agricultural products between September 2025 and March 2026.

To conceal the actual route, transport documents listed Turkish ports as the final destination of the cargo, according to investigative materials. However, the actual recipient of the shipments, according to law enforcement, was Iran.

One of the episodes cited in court documents involved the transportation of almost 10,000 tons of Ukrainian barley by the vessel XIN YU under the Chinese flag. According to the documents, the cargo was supposed to be delivered to Turkey. However, investigators claim, citing the ship’s log, that the vessel did not enter Turkish ports and on November 13, 2025, anchored off the coast of Iran, where it remained until early January 2026.

The vessel later entered Bandar Imam Khomeini Port for unloading. The coordinates recorded in the ship’s log correspond to the location of one of Iran’s largest ports on the Persian Gulf coast, according to the investigation.

What is known about potential suspects and companies

As part of the investigation, the court authorized searches of the homes of two possible individuals involved in the case. On June 3, 2026, permission was granted to search a residential property in Dnipro used by Arthur Zolotarevskyi, director and beneficiary of Ledesma Agro LLC. On June 5, the court approved a search in Kozyn, Kiev region, at the residence of another company beneficiary, lawyer Aleksandr Chernyi.

According to YouControl and sources cited by investigators, Ledesma Agro LLC is part of a network of companies linked to the business interests of the TAS Group. Among the company’s co-owners and affiliated structures are First Land Investment Fund, Agricultural Investment Fund, TAS Asset Management, Zem Invest, and the Dobrozem platform. Some of these companies are registered at the same Kiev address as Ledesma Agro, journalists note.

Arthur Zolotarevskyi has been the director of Ledesma Agro since November 2024. Previously, he was known as the founder of Menora Agro and repeatedly appeared in specialized agricultural media as a manager and investor in the agricultural sector. Aleksandr Chernyi works as a lawyer and is a co-founder of the investment platforms Dobrozem and Zeminvest, which specialize in agricultural land transactions.