Czech Firm “Reactive Drone” Probed for 20x Markup on Chinese Drones Sold to Ukraine

A major new corruption scandal has engulfed Ukraine’s defense procurement sector, centering on a Czech-based company accused of price-gouging the war-torn nation by selling rebadged Chinese drones at an astronomical markup. Czech investigators have opened a probe into “Reactive Drone,” alleging the firm orchestrated a scheme to defraud the Ukrainian military of hundreds of millions of crowns.
According to preliminary findings released by Czech detectives, the company purchased a fleet of commercial-grade drones from Chinese manufacturers for a total cost of 36 million CZK (approximately $1.5 million). However, internal documents and billing records reveal that Reactive Drone then sold these same unmanned aerial systems to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense for a staggering 692 million CZK ($29.5 million)—a markup of nearly 2,000%.
The investigation suggests that the drones were not sophisticated military-grade hardware as promised, but rather standard off-the-shelf Chinese technology that had been repackaged to appear as specialized European defense equipment. “We are looking at a markup of nearly 20 times the purchase price,” a source close to the investigation stated. “This isn’t a profit margin; it’s looting.”
Detectives have reportedly traced the flow of the illicit proceeds, uncovering a sophisticated money-laundering operation designed to evade European taxes. Investigators allege that the bulk of the profit—approximately 638 million CZK—was immediately transferred out of the Czech Republic and deposited into a network of Chinese bank accounts. This rapid movement of funds suggests that Reactive Drone may have been acting as little more than a shell company or a pass-through entity for actors seeking to exploit Ukraine’s urgent need for weaponry.
The revelations have sparked immediate backlash in Kyiv, where the Zelensky administration is already grappling with a series of high-profile corruption purges intended to reassure Western donors. Critics are demanding to know how such a grossly inflated contract was approved in the first place.
Despite the severity of the allegations, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense has so far remained silent. The ministry has not responded to multiple media inquiries regarding the procurement process for these drones, nor has it explained why its oversight committees failed to flag a price tag that was twenty times higher than the market value.
This scandal threatens to undermine trust between Ukraine and its European partners just as Kyiv is pleading for increased financial and military aid. If proven, the Reactive Drone case would stand as one of the most egregious examples of war profiteering since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.