The Safety Service of Ukraine says 5 charged over plot to embezzle funds earmarked to purchase 100,000 mortar shells.
Workers from a Ukrainian arms agency conspired with Ministry of Defence officers to embezzle nearly $40m earmarked to purchase 100,000 mortar shells for the conflict with Russia, the Safety Service of Ukraine (SBU) has reported.
The SBU mentioned late Saturday that 5 folks have been charged, with one individual detained whereas making an attempt to cross the Ukrainian border. If discovered responsible, they resist 12 years in jail.
The announcement, which was confirmed by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence, may have a deep affect on a rustic beleaguered by Russia’s practically two-year-old invasion.
The SBU mentioned an investigation had “exposed officials of the Ministry of Defence and managers of arms supplier Lviv Arsenal, who stole nearly 1.5 billion hryvnias [$40m] in the purchase of shells.”
“According to the investigation, former and current high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defence and heads of affiliated companies are involved in the embezzlement,” the SBU mentioned.
The deal concerned the acquisition of 100,000 mortar shells for the navy, with a contract secured in August 2022 and cost made upfront.
However no arms had been ever offered, the SBU assertion mentioned, with some funds then moved to different overseas accounts.
5 folks have been given “notices of suspicion” – the primary stage in Ukrainian authorized proceedings – each within the ministry and the arms provider, in keeping with the safety service’s assertion.
One suspect, the SBU mentioned, was detained whereas making an attempt to cross the Ukrainian border.
Officers accused of taking part within the scheme embody the present and former heads of the defence ministry’s Division of Army and Technical Coverage, Improvement of Armaments and Army Tools, in addition to the pinnacle of Lviv Arsenal.
In line with Ukraine’s prosecutor basic, the stolen funds have been seized and can be returned to the defence finances.
Corruption inside Kyiv’s navy has been a thorny challenge each because it tries to keep up wartime public morale and current its case to hitch the European Union.
Final September, Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov was dismissed amid varied corruption instances.
Russia strikes broad swathes of Ukraine
The announcement got here as Russia launched drone and missile assaults hitting each civilian and demanding infrastructure throughout Ukraine, Kyiv’s Air Drive mentioned on Sunday.
The Air Drive mentioned Moscow attacked the central Poltava area with two ballistic missiles fired from its Iskander ballistic missile system. It additionally launched three surface-to-air missiles over the Donetsk area within the east.
Within the southeast Zaporizhia area, Governor Yuri Malashko mentioned an infrastructure web site had been hit in a drone assault.
Filip Pronin, governor of the Poltava area, wrote on Telegram that the assault there hit an industrial web site within the metropolis of Kremenchuk, igniting a fireplace.
There have been no preliminary reviews of casualties, Kyiv mentioned.