Defense Ministry officials are implicated as Kyiv battles corruption to move closer to EU membership.
Employees of a Ukrainian arms company and Defense Ministry officials embezzled nearly $40 million intended to purchase 100,000 mortar shells for the war with Russia, security services reported Ukrainians.
The SBU announced Saturday evening that five people had been charged, including one arrested while trying to leave the country. If found guilty, they face sentences of up to 12 years in prison.
The investigation comes as Kyiv attempts to crack down on corruption in a bid to speed up its membership of the European Union and NATO. Officials from both blocs have demanded sweeping anti-corruption reforms before Kyiv can join them.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was elected on an anti-corruption agenda in 2019, well before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The president and his aides have described recent dismissals senior officials, including that of Ivan Bakanov, former head of State Security, in July 2022, as proof of their efforts in the fight against corruption.
Security officials say the ongoing investigation dates back to August 2022, when officials signed a contract for artillery shells worth 1.5 billion hryvnias ($39.6 million) with the Lviv Arsenal arms company.
After receiving payment, the company’s employees were supposed to transfer the funds to a company registered abroad, which would then deliver the ammunition to Ukraine.
But the goods were never delivered and the money was sent to different accounts in Ukraine and the Balkans, investigators said. Ukraine’s prosecutor general said the funds have since been seized and will be returned to the country’s defense budget.
