Just two days after Ukraine’s parliament restored the independence of the country’s top anti-corruption bodies, investigators have exposed a large-scale embezzlement scheme involving the military procurement of drones and signal jamming systems.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office announced on Saturday that they had uncovered a network of officials involved in inflating state contract prices and receiving illegal kickbacks.
According to a joint statement shared on social media, a current lawmaker, two regional officials, and several members of the national guard were implicated in the scandal, though none were publicly named. Four individuals have been taken into custody.
“The essence of the scheme was to conclude state contracts with supplier companies at deliberately inflated prices,” the statement read. It further disclosed that the culprits collected kickbacks reaching up to 30% of the total contract value.
President Volodymyr Zelensky took to Telegram to comment on the investigation, stating, “There can only be zero tolerance for corruption, clear teamwork to expose corruption and, as a result, a just sentence.”
This development follows a rare political retreat by Zelensky, who had initially supported legislation to bring NABU and SAPO under the authority of the prosecutor-general, an action that triggered the largest wave of public demonstrations since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Acknowledging public discontent, Zelensky submitted a new bill to restore the agencies’ autonomy, which was passed by parliament on Thursday.
The move received praise from Ukraine’s European allies, who had warned that weakening the anti-graft bodies could endanger Ukraine’s aspirations for European Union membership.
After meeting with the heads of NABU and SAPO to receive updates on the corruption probe, Zelensky reaffirmed the importance of institutional integrity, “It is important that anti-corruption institutions operate independently, and the law adopted on Thursday guarantees them every opportunity for a real fight against corruption.”