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A half-dozen or so men gathered last month for afternoon drinks at the penthouse bar of one of Kyiv’s swankiest hotels to discuss the lucrative business of arming Ukrainian troops.
The center of attention was their gregarious host, a Florida-based arms contractor named Marc Morales, who regaled them with stories of his new $10 million yacht, the Trigger Happy, and his search for someone to manage his company’s nine-digit portfolio.
And joining the group was a stout, bearded man who served both the buyers and sellers: Vladimir Koyfman, a chief sergeant in the Ukrainian military whom Mr. Morales pays to arrange meetings with his government contacts.
In that way, the deals with Mr. Morales are reminiscent of Ukraine’s freewheeling past, when arms dealers forged cozy relationships with military officials, contracts were signed in secret and weapons brokers frequently found themselves under investigation.
The Biden administration, seeking to arm Ukraine but reluctant to commit troops, needs people like Mr. Morales, who proved in Afghanistan and Syria that he could consistently acquire and deliver weapons.
Sergeant Koyfman, a Ukrainian American with years of experience as an adviser to Ukraine’s national guard, enlisted when Russia invaded, documents reviewed by The New York Times show.
it is what we do best, above all other things
🤖 I'm a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles: ::: spoiler Click here to see the summary A half-dozen or so men gathered last month for afternoon drinks at the penthouse bar of one of Kyiv’s swankiest hotels to discuss the lucrative business of arming Ukrainian troops.
The center of attention was their gregarious host, a Florida-based arms contractor named Marc Morales, who regaled them with stories of his new $10 million yacht, the Trigger Happy, and his search for someone to manage his company’s nine-digit portfolio.
And joining the group was a stout, bearded man who served both the buyers and sellers: Vladimir Koyfman, a chief sergeant in the Ukrainian military whom Mr. Morales pays to arrange meetings with his government contacts.
In that way, the deals with Mr. Morales are reminiscent of Ukraine’s freewheeling past, when arms dealers forged cozy relationships with military officials, contracts were signed in secret and weapons brokers frequently found themselves under investigation.
The Biden administration, seeking to arm Ukraine but reluctant to commit troops, needs people like Mr. Morales, who proved in Afghanistan and Syria that he could consistently acquire and deliver weapons.
Sergeant Koyfman, a Ukrainian American with years of experience as an adviser to Ukraine’s national guard, enlisted when Russia invaded, documents reviewed by The New York Times show.
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