Over three years — from 2022 to 2024 — according to the investigation, the state was purchasing what already belonged to it. NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office announced suspicions against the organizer of the scheme and a former deputy commander of a military unit in Kharkiv region in a case involving embezzlement of over 350 million hryvnias.

How it worked

According to the investigation, spare parts for armored vehicles were stored in warehouses at one of the military units in Kharkiv region. They were written off — officially as destroyed as a result of Russian strikes. After this, property that actually remained in circulation went to a network of companies and individual entrepreneurs controlled by two persons. The same components were then sold back to state defense enterprises under contracts totaling over 350 million hryvnias.

The key element of the scheme — access to warehouses. This is where the investigation sees the role of the former deputy commander of the unit: he, according to NABU's version, ensured the removal of property and its fictitious write-off.

Bribes in household appliances and building materials

The remuneration to the official, as established by the investigation, was not transferred in cash. The scheme organizer paid for his personal purchases — household appliances, building materials, and other goods. The total amount of such payments, according to NABU's preliminary assessment, is at least 2.8 million hryvnias.

«Currently, suspicions were announced against: the former deputy commander of the military unit — Part 5 of Article 27, Part 4 of Article 410 (theft of military property), Part 4 of Article 368 (receipt of improper benefit), Article 366-3 (non-declaration) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine; the scheme organizer — Part 3 of Article 369 (provision of improper benefit) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine»

NABU, official statement

Scale and limits of what is known

The investigation covers two years of the active phase of the war — a period when demand for spare parts for armored vehicles was critical, and control over property write-offs was minimal. It is this combination, according to the logic of the accusation, that made the scheme possible.

• Two persons received suspicions: the scheme organizer and the former deputy commander of the unit.
• The group included several legal entities and individual entrepreneurs actually controlled by two individuals.
• The amount of improper benefit to the official is 2.8 million hryvnias from 350 million hryvnias in scheme turnover.
• The investigation has not disclosed what portion of the 350 million hryvnias represents direct state losses, and what portion — the value of actual, «clean» deliveries in those same contracts.

Suspicion is a procedural step, not a conviction. The guilt of those involved will be established by the court.

An open question that this case raises systematically: if the mechanism for writing off property as «destroyed under fire» has no independent verification — how many similar schemes remain unnoticed by the investigation until one of the participants makes a mistake?