“When a Missile Hits Your Business”: 10 Documents, 3 Years to File a Claim, and €200,000 for the Process

What this episode is about. Biosphere Corporation survived a missile strike on its production complex. A year after the event, its top management publicly walked through the whole process step by step for the first time: how to prepare in advance, what to do in the first hours, which documents to collect, and which compensation mechanisms actually work as of today.

The conversation took place on air at the CFO Club of Ukraine, moderated by Andrii Sysoiev. The guests were Iryna Nesterenko, Chief Operating Officer of Biosphere Corporation, and Olha Zakutii, the corporation’s Legal Director.

At Dextra Law, we have compiled the key parts of the conversation in text form: this is probably the most concrete public guide available for a business hit by shelling. Comments from Dextra Law’s lawyers are given in separate callouts.

Can You Prepare for a Strike in Advance?

Andrii Sysoiev: You have already been through this. What would you advise businesses that haven’t been hit yet? Is it even necessary to prepare?

Iryna Nesterenko: Yes, it is. Every business is different, each has its own operating model, and each needs to think about how to reduce risks within that model. If the main risk is the destruction of something, the question is simple: can you spread that “something” out? Reduce warehouse stock?

We did not reduce our stock — we distributed it between warehouses. And, unfortunately, we did not do it well enough. Now we understand. Now we do it taking into account what we saw in this situation.

Second — people. We had one large bomb shelter for the entire production complex, but now we have placed mobile shelters next to every workshop so that a person needs as little time as possible to get there.

Third — training. We had set up teams of employees, like the volunteer fire brigades of the past. They were trained by our occupational and fire safety specialist, a former rescuer. He taught them to work with fire extinguishers and fire hydrants. And although we had a modern fire suppression system — when a missile hits, it simply turns into nothing — it was these trained people who managed to contain something before the State Emergency Service arrived.

Andrii Sysoiev: So shelter first, and firefighting only afterwards?

Iryna Nesterenko: Absolutely. We signed an order: during an air raid alert, no one stays at their workstation, everyone goes to the shelter. And this has to be trained. Only once the alert is over can you come out and do what you were taught. Our case and our partners’ cases showed that those in open spaces suffer the most. There is only one universal piece of advice here — shelter.

Olha Zakutii: Let me add something about business in general. We insured all our facilities against war risks. Yes, insurers are now restricting territories, but Kyiv, Kyiv Oblast and other non-frontline regions can still do this. Of course, the payout did not cover our losses, but it is a working tool.

Life insurance for employees, an evacuation plan, and a plan for conduct during an alert at the facility — those are things we did afterwards. Plus recommendations for employees on how to behave at home during shelling, and a separate procedure for HR: what to do when someone cannot be reached. It’s the fifth year of the war, and people still go outside to film. We didn’t understand the terrible power of shrapnel until we faced it.

Dextra Law comment. The minimum “readiness package” worth having before an event: an order on conduct during air raid alerts with employees’ signatures of acknowledgement, a current insurance contract (property + life), occupational and fire safety training records, and — separately — up-to-date inventory records for each location. The last item directly affects the amount of losses you will later be able to prove.

The First Hours After the Strike: Who Does What

Iryna Nesterenko: It was the middle of the working day, with about 600 people at the complex. HR, together with department heads, were locating and accounting for every single person: where they were, what condition they were in.

In parallel, occupational safety got involved — there were wounded, and they had to be accompanied to medical facilities. Fortunately, we have full medical insurance in the corporation, so we also brought in the insurers to provide help. Some people went through several surgeries. Some had injuries that only manifested a week or even 10 days after the event.

A separate block is working with the State Emergency Service. The rescuers asked us directly what, in our opinion, should be extinguished first, second, third. And then there are many documents that need to be drawn up afterwards.

Olha Zakutii: The lawyers were everywhere, because the same question comes up on every issue: how should this be done from a legal standpoint? What comes first, what comes second? And here I have to state a fact: as of today, there is no single unified roadmap.

The Document List: 10 Items in the Right Order

Olha Zakutii: I’ll try to arrange them logically — in the order they need to be prepared.

1. Fire report (State Emergency Service). The first and primary document. Pay attention to the data entered: the area of damage, the approximate amount of damaged property. I understand everyone is in shock, but these documents are not redone later — any discrepancies will surface at every subsequent stage.
2. Calling the police and opening criminal proceedings on the fact of a terrorist act.
3. The case file is transferred to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). Your task is to obtain an extract confirming registration of the criminal proceedings and a ruling recognising the company as a victim. If, like us, you are a corporation made up of several legal entities, you need a ruling for each one separately, because each has its own assets and its own losses.
4. Damage assessment report from the local self-government authority. A commission visits the site and draws up a detailed description: what was destroyed, whether destruction is full or partial. A lengthy and very important document.
5. Photo and video documentation. As detailed as possible and — the key nuance — tied to location, date and time. Simply filming on a smartphone is not enough: you need equipment that makes it possible to prove that this is your facility and that exact moment. This is part of the evidence base in court.
6. Construction expert assessment and entering the data into the Register of Damaged and Destroyed Property, with an extract obtained.
7. State Emergency Service certificate confirming the absence of explosive materials. Without it, you cannot let people onto the site even for basic debris clearance. Frankly, they are not very keen to issue it, but you have to push for it.
8. Inventory reports for damaged real estate, goods and equipment. This is where accounting steps in, and this is where you absolutely cannot do it “for show”: an inventory commission, signatures of the persons with material responsibility, everything by the book. This is the document that determines the amount of actual losses, and it is the one requested by every institution you approach.
9. Certificate from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of the relevant region.
10. Loss assessment report from an audit firm.

Iryna Nesterenko: On the CCI certificate, let me add: today this is the only document that gives you the right not to adjust the VAT credit on destroyed property. And it is issued on the basis of the entire list Olha just described. Effectively, the whole chain of documents is the foundation for preserving your VAT credit.

Olha Zakutii: On the audit — audit firms differ, and the choice depends on your strategy. If you plan to go to international jurisdictions, not all Ukrainian auditors may be recognised internationally, nor their conclusions. Build your strategy with this in mind. We ran a tender, settled on the firm Crest, and are satisfied with the quality of their work: they calculated not only our losses but also lost profits — a difficult thing to quantify.

Plus, if the property was insured — a claim to the insurer within the period set by the contract, with its own separate list of documents.

Dextra Law comment. The most common mistakes we see among clients: inaccurate data in the fire report, photo documentation without metadata, and a “simplified” inventory without a properly constituted commission. Fixing these three things retroactively is almost impossible, and the cost of the mistake is a court rejection or a reduced award.

Compensation Mechanisms: What Actually Works

Andrii Sysoiev: The documents are collected. Next, there is the Ukrainian court route and the international one?

Olha Zakutii: Not quite. As of today, two tracks work: compensation through the state and the judicial route.

The first is the Register of Damage for legal entities. It is up and running; you can and should submit a claim with the same document package. We have done so. We understand this is a story about future reparations — but filing a claim in no way prevents you from pursuing the judicial route in parallel.

Dextra Law comment. This refers to the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine (RD4U), established by the Council of Europe. Since 29 April 2026, three claim categories are open to businesses: C1.1 — damage to critical infrastructure, C1.2 — non-critical infrastructure, C3.1 — damage to assets, equipment, inventory and lost profits. Any legal entity registered in Ukraine can submit a claim via the Diia portal. The logic is the same as in the conversation above: unregistered losses will simply have nothing to back them up later. We have broken down the procedure step by step in our article “The RD4U International Register of Damage: A Complete Guide for Business”.

Now, about court. International arbitration will not work — that is my subjective but well-founded view. Arbitration is a tool for disputes between private businesses. The Russian Federation as a state cannot be brought there, even if private companies are added as co-defendants. Law firms offer various options — keep that in mind.

What actually works is this: a lawsuit in a Ukrainian court to establish the fact of damage, with the Russian Federation as the defendant. There is already practice of adding Russian state-owned and private companies as co-defendants where their involvement in hostilities can be proven. A tool for bringing in individuals is being developed.

Next — recognition of the Ukrainian court’s judgment in a foreign jurisdiction, usually where Russian assets are located or where they have been specifically identified for you. This is where international advisers are needed.

And importantly: don’t assume the Ukrainian court is a formality. Courts have become more demanding because European courts are asking their own questions. There are appeals, there are difficulties with evidence — even with how to serve a summons on the Russian Federation.

Andrii Sysoiev: Are there any success stories?

Olha Zakutii: No one in Ukraine has received compensation yet. That is not a reason for pessimism — it is a realistic understanding of the procedure. I know of a single case where a company’s assets were frozen, but the freeze was lifted on appeal and the disputes continue. There are negative cases too: I know of situations where a law firm took a client into the wrong jurisdiction — no assets, no tools, and the local courts refuse to enforce Ukrainian court judgments.

What It Costs and Why You Shouldn’t Rush

Olha Zakutii: I roughly estimated the cost of the project across all stages — it’s around €200,000, and that’s at the minimum: fees, legal consulting, audit. Not every business can afford that. For small and medium businesses, especially where strikes are regular, it is probably not cost-effective — in that case, file a claim with the state Register of Damage.

Iryna Nesterenko: One more thing. You can file a lawsuit only once — afterwards you cannot change either the subject or the grounds of the claim. You cannot go to the same court on the same grounds against the same parties a second time. It’s one thing to sue the Russian Federation as a state. It’s another to sue the Russian Federation plus some hypothetical Ivanov. These are different formulations, and you have to get it right the first time.

A year has passed since our event, the documents are collected, and we have two more years in reserve — three years to file a claim. We are not rushing: we are studying case law, looking at others’ mistakes, and finalising our lawsuit for the Ukrainian court.

Andrii Sysoiev: Would you recommend any consultants?

Olha Zakutii: Honestly — no: it would be unfair to our colleagues. Everyone offers different tools, and there are simply no completed cases that have reached compensation. I’ll say one thing: large law firms that value their reputation handle the matter thoroughly. But each business must make its own choice.

Key Takeaways

• Prepare before the event: disperse assets, place shelters near workstations, train employees, insure property and lives, put procedures in writing.
• In the first hours, three things are critical: people, coordination with the State Emergency Service, and accurate data in the primary documents.
• The document package is not red tape — it is the foundation for the VAT credit, for court, and for the Register of Damage.
• The judicial route is long, expensive, and so far without any realised compensation. But the limitation period is three years, and you can file only once.
• A claim to the RD4U Register does not compete with court — it is a parallel track, and for small and medium businesses often the only economically justified one.

Dextra Law supports businesses in documenting war damage, handling the tax consequences of destroyed property, and preparing lawsuits — from primary documents to compensation for war-related damage through Ukrainian courts, the ECHR and international mechanisms. If you are at the document-gathering stage or choosing a strategy, get in touch — we will discuss your case and assess which route gives the best result in your situation.

This article is based on the CFO Club of Ukraine’s interview with Iryna Nesterenko and Olha Zakutii (Biosphere Corporation). Watch the original episode. Quotes are abridged and lightly edited. This material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.