Ukrainian court investigates former minister and deputy for embezzlement of millions

OThe suspects are a former deputy minister of Defense and a deputy, who are awaiting investigation in preventive detention.

The two men, whose names were not revealed, “ordered personal protective equipment of insufficient quality abroad”, said the State Investigative Service, cited by the French agency AFP.

The suspects paid for the equipment in advance and without respecting the quality control procedures in force, said Ukraine’s anti-corruption body.

“As a result, the Ukrainian armed forces received poor quality bulletproof vests, which could not be used in combat without endangering the lives” of soldiers, he added.

The fraud was estimated at more than six million euros.

Suspects can be sentenced to a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison.

According to investigators, this is a new episode in a more global case, which amounts to more than 36 million euros and involves contracts for the supply of poor quality ammunition to the Ukrainian army.

Since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has been rocked by several corruption scandals, which even led Defense Minister Oleksei Reznikov to resign in September.

The fight against corruption, an endemic evil in the country, is one of the criteria established by the European Union to examine Ukraine’s membership candidacy.

Kiev has received tens of billions of euros in Western aid since the start of the war.

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