Ukraine’s SBU security service said on Sunday it had uncovered a corruption scheme in the purchase of arms by the country’s military totalling the equivalent of about $40 million.
The announcement of mass procurement fraud, confirmed by Ukraine’s Defence Ministry, will have a huge resonance in a country beleaguered by Russia’s nearly two-year-old invasion.
The fight to root out endemic corruption re-mains a major issue as Ukraine presses its bid to secure membership in the European Union.
The SBU said an investigation had “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 embezzlement, it said, involved the pur-chase of 100,000 mortar shells for the military.
Read Russia says Ukraine had 15-minute warning on PoW flight; Kyiv demands international probe
The SBU said a contract for the shells was clinched with Lviv Arsenal in August 2022 – six months into the war – and payment was made in advance, with some funds transferred abroad.
But no arms were ever provided, the statement said, with some funds then moved to other foreign accounts.—Agencies
