Ukraine’s SBU security service announced Saturday it has discovered a corruption scheme involving the country’s military acquisition of armaments totalling over $40 million.
The allegation of vast procurement fraud, verified by Ukraine’s Defence Ministry, will have far-reaching consequences in a country plagued by Russia’s nearly two-year invasion.
The effort to endemic widespread corruption remains a major concern as Ukraine pursues membership in the European Union.
The SSBU claimed that an investigation exposed officials of the Ministry of Defence and managers of arms supplier Lviv Arsenal, who stole nearly 1.5 billion hryvnias 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 SSBU continued.
The embezzlement, it claimed, entailed the purchase of 1,00,000 mortar shells for the military.
The SBU stated that a contract for the shells was signed with Lviv Arsenal in August 2022, six months into the war, and payment was made in advance, with some funds transported overseas.
However, no arms were ever provided, the statement added, with some monies being transferred to other offshore accounts.
It went on to say that five people were served with notices of suspicion, the first stage in Ukrainian legal proceedings at both the ministry and the armaments supplier. One suspect, it added, was apprehended while attempting to reach the Ukrainian border.
Corruption inside the military has been a particularly delicate subject in Ukraine as it attempts to preserve wartime public morale while also presenting its case for membership in the 27-nation EU.
Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s defence minister, was fired in September due to corruption allegations, despite having a solid reputation for representing Ukraine in meetings with Western allies.
Although he was not accused of directly engaging in corruption, numerous charges were brought against the military during his tenure, including one involving the provision of food to troops and another involving the procurement of appropriate attire for service members.
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