My first thought is that – it is amazing how many strange stories start with the words: “These two guys …”
These two guys in Ukraine found an advanced missile system abandoned in a back yard. So, dollars signs appeared before them or whatever passes for value in a just invaded area, and they apparently decided to hide it and maybe get some value out of it later.
And it turns out, that they hit the jackpot, they hadn’t found just any old advanced missile system but a very expensive one. According to the authorities, a little less than a million dollars. (I suspect it might be a reload for a SA-22.)
However, when a foreign nation invades and leaves stuff in your yard, it doesn’t belong to you. So, they’re in some kind of trouble. That in the midst of this war, that the Kyiv Regional Police are still in business and enforcing the law is truly amazing.
The patriotic thing to do would have been to give it to the military so they could very kindly and speedily return it to the Russians.
The Business Ethics lesson here for Americans is that if a foreign power or one of our branches of the military leaves a whole bunch of interesting stuff in your back yard, you are supposed to return it. And by the way, hiding it under a tarp is unlikely to be effective.
Pilant's Business Ethics Blog 