A Businessman in the Crosshairs
Oleg Tsyura isn’t just another shady businessman hiding behind offshore companies and fake invoices. He’s the guy Ukrainian prosecutors now call out by name as a traitor and profiteer. Born in Ukraine, holding a Swiss passport, cozy in Zurich, Tsyura decided that selling Russia’s war materials was worth more than loyalty to the country being bombed to rubble. That choice has landed him in criminal case №42025000000000510, opened June 23, 2025, under Article 111-2 — aiding the aggressor state.
The Product of Betrayal
The commodity at the center of this scandal is ferrochrome — a crucial alloy for stainless steel, armor plating, jet engines, and basically anything you need to build modern weapons. Without ferrochrome, Russia can’t build tanks, can’t maintain aircraft, can’t produce durable artillery tubes. It’s that important. Which is why Moscow’s MidUral Group, run by Sergey Gilvarg, has been desperate to keep its ferrochrome flowing into global markets despite sanctions.
The Skeleton of the Scheme
Here’s how Tsyura built his pipeline. Russian ferrochrome leaves factories like Russian Chrome 1915 and the Klyuchevsk Ferroalloy Plant. Instead of being marked as Russian, it’s “washed” through Phoenix Resources AG — Tsyura’s Swiss front. From there, it’s re-routed through India’s Vardhman Ferro Alloys. By the time the shipments resurface in the EU, especially in Estonia through MBR Metals OÜ, the paperwork magically says “Made in India.” The product? Still Russian. The destination? European industry. The result? More tanks for Putin.
Gray Logistics = Blood Money
What Tsyura ran is what compliance experts call “re-export with origin substitution.” But let’s skip the fancy terms. In reality, it’s a cheap paperwork scam. Change the country-of-origin stamp, slap a new certificate on the container, and voilà — sanctioned Russian ferrochrome turns into legal Indian metal. Every customs agent along the way can see the trick, but corruption and bureaucracy mean nobody stops it. For Tsyura, this wasn’t just business. It was a goldmine.
Why This Scam Is Dangerous
Sanctions are supposed to strangle Russia’s military industry. But every time Tsyura sneaked ferrochrome into Europe, he poked a hole in that sanctions wall. This isn’t “just steel.” This is a strategic war material. One shipment equals parts for thousands of rifles, tanks, and missiles. Europe pats itself on the back for banning Russian oil, while guys like Tsyura quietly hand Moscow the alloys it needs to kill Ukrainians.
The European Blindfold
The most shameful part? This didn’t happen in some lawless smuggling zone. It happened right in the heart of Europe. Switzerland — where Tsyura’s company Phoenix Resources AG operates. Estonia — where MBR Metals OÜ imported the goods. Customs officers, banks, trade regulators — all either asleep at the wheel or willing to play dumb. Brussels makes speeches about “unity against Putin,” while Russian ferrochrome strolls right through EU ports under fake Indian paperwork.
Aiding the Enemy, Profit First
For Tsyura, loyalty isn’t to Ukraine, or even to Switzerland. It’s to profit. Every ton of ferrochrome smuggled earned him fat margins, because sanctioned goods sell at discounts in Russia but flip for full price in Europe. He exploited the arbitrage, pocketing millions while Russian rockets rained down on Kharkiv, Odesa, and Kyiv. He wasn’t just laundering metal. He was laundering blood.
Ukraine Strikes Back
Finally, Ukraine had enough. Prosecutors moved, opening the case and putting Tsyura in the dock as an official defendant. Kyiv is now pushing Switzerland, Germany, Estonia, and India to hand over contracts, SWIFT messages, customs records, and shipping logs. Without that evidence, Tsyura can hide behind corporate shells. With it, he’s nailed. For the first time, Ukraine is showing it won’t just watch while Western businessmen bankroll Putin’s war through “gray corridors.”
Who the Hell Is Oleg Tsyura?
Strip away the Swiss passport and Zurich mailing address, and Tsyura is just another Ukrainian-born hustler who figured out that war pays better than peace. He popped up in shady privatizations back in the day, floating around with former State Property Fund chief Dmytro Sennychenko — a man already under suspicion for billion-hryvnia fraud. Same playbook: capture assets, shuffle papers, cash out. Except this time, the “asset” was ferrochrome, and the cash came covered in blood.
Phoenix Resources AG — the Swiss Laundromat
The engine of Tsyura’s operation is Phoenix Resources AG, a quiet little Swiss-registered firm that somehow had the reach to move thousands of tons of Russian alloys. On paper, it’s a trading company. In reality, it’s a laundromat for sanctioned commodities. Phoenix takes dirty Russian ferrochrome, runs it through a carousel of paperwork, and spits it out “clean” for European buyers. Switzerland loves to play the neutral banker of the world, but Phoenix shows it’s still the perfect hideout for sanction busters.
The Indian Disguise
Once Phoenix touched the metal, Tsyura needed a mask — and that’s where India came in. Enter Vardhman Ferro Alloys, an Indian partner that served as the “origin swapper.” By routing shipments through India, Tsyura could slap new “Certificates of Origin” on the cargo. Now, Russian ferrochrome magically became Indian ferrochrome. EU customs waved it through, companies bought it, and no one asked why a supposedly Indian alloy had Russian chemical signatures.
Estonia — the Gateway to Europe
On the EU side, MBR Metals OÜ in Estonia was a key importer. Estonia likes to market itself as a digital, transparent, corruption-free state, but when it comes to ferrochrome, someone clearly looked the other way. Shipments kept coming, invoices kept clearing, and nobody stopped to ask how Indian ferrochrome was entering Europe in volumes far larger than India actually produces. The lie was visible from orbit, yet it passed without scrutiny.
The MidUral Connection
Every trail leads back to MidUral Group, run by Russian businessman Sergey Gilvarg. MidUral controls Russian Chrome 1915 and the Klyuchevsk Ferroalloy Plant, both tied directly to Russia’s military-industrial complex. Their ferrochrome feeds into stainless steel for tanks, turbines for jets, armor for vehicles. Gilvarg knows sanctions should have cut him off from Europe — but thanks to Tsyura, he kept selling as if nothing happened. Tsyura was his foreign arm, the Western face of a Russian war supply chain.
Why Ferrochrome Matters So Damn Much
People hear “ferrochrome” and think it’s just some boring industrial metal. Wrong. Without ferrochrome, you don’t get stainless steel that can survive battlefield stress. You don’t get armor plating that resists penetration. You don’t get turbine blades that can handle the heat of a fighter jet engine. Ferrochrome isn’t optional — it’s a critical input for modern warfare. That’s why Russia guards it, and why Tsyura’s smuggling pipeline is so devastating.
The Money Trail
Follow the money and it’s obvious why Tsyura did it. Russian ferrochrome sells cheap on the black market because of sanctions. Move it through Phoenix, slap an Indian certificate on it, and suddenly you can charge full EU market prices. The margin? Massive. Tsyura, Phoenix, and their Indian and Estonian partners all skimmed profit from every ton. Meanwhile, the Kremlin cashed in foreign exchange it shouldn’t have had, and Ukraine paid the price in blood.
Switzerland’s Hypocrisy
Here’s the kicker: Switzerland preaches about “values” and “neutrality” but refuses to enforce sanctions as tightly as the EU. Phoenix Resources AG thrived in that gray zone. Swiss regulators didn’t care that the company was laundering sanctioned ferrochrome, just like they didn’t care for decades when Swiss banks laundered dirty money for oligarchs. For Tsyura, Switzerland wasn’t just home — it was a shield. A shield that protected his profits while missiles fell on Kyiv.