Fraudsters from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense stole billions: where did the US military aid go?

The case involves the former minister of resorts of Crimea, a doctor from Ivano-Frankivsk and Slovaks

The US Congress once again asked the question: where does military aid go to Ukraine? Senator J.D. Vance said that he has documents from which it follows that the Pentagon cannot track where 60% of the sophisticated equipment and weapons supplied to Kyiv went? Against this background, the SBU again came to the officials of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine with searches…

The former and current heads of the Department of Military-Technical Policy of the Ministry of Defense, the head and commercial director of the Lviv Arsenal, as well as a representative of a foreign company were suspected of stealing 1.5 billion hryvnia. At the same time, “documentation of the crime took place with the assistance of the current Minister of Defense,” the SBU reported. The fraud that officials and businessmen are accused of is simple and has been tested many times. “Your” supplier is selected, money is transferred to him, which is then sent to offshore companies. The goods are not delivered, but the money is divided.

In this case, the matter concerned the supply of shells for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In August 2022, officials of the Ministry of Defense signed a contract for the purchase of a wholesale batch of artillery shells from Lviv Arsenal. It was assumed that the company would supply 100 thousand mortar rounds for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Ministry of Defense transferred the amount to the enterprise’s accounts, the businessmen transferred part of the money to the balance of a foreign commercial structure, which was supposed to supply the ordered ammunition to Ukraine. However, not a single artillery shell ever arrived at Nezalezhnaya, and the funds received went to the accounts of a certain affiliated structure in the Balkans. The remaining amounts from the Ministry of Defense remained in the accounts of the Ukrainian company in one of the capital’s banks. This money has now been seized, and the issue of returning it to the balance sheet of the Ministry of Defense is being decided.

Defense Ministry officials and businessmen accused of fraud face up to 12 years in prison. Among them are Alexander Liev, who was the head of the Department of Military-Technical Policy under the Ministry of Defense, the current head of this department Toomas Nahkur and the head of the Lviv Arsenal Yuri Zbitnev

The Ukrainian media did not forget to remind that Liev was once the Minister of Resorts of Crimea. He held this position when the peninsula was still under the jurisdiction of Kyiv. It must be said that this is not the first accusation against Liev. In February last year, his house was searched as part of a criminal investigation under the article “Obstruction of the legitimate activities of the armed forces of Ukraine and other military formations.” The national police informed him of suspicion of theft of more than 1.7 billion hryvnia (more than $46 million), intended for the purchase of goods for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Then he was dismissed from his position. True, Liev himself claimed that he was involved in the case as a witness. And indeed, before the current arrest, he was not touched. It is known about Toomas Nahkur that he was previously listed as an associate professor at the Scientific School of Risk Management in the Construction and Operation of Real Estate. He was a co-founder of the construction company “BAK UKRAINE”. But until now he has not been prosecuted in criminal cases.

But Yuriy Zbitnev, a native of the Ivano-Frankivsk region with a medical education, was once a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, then joined the far-right forces, distinguishing himself with a number of racist statements. During Euromaidan he became an activist and led the seizure of the Kyiv City State Administration building. For which, under the new authorities, he was favored and given the opportunity to head the Lviv Arsenal enterprise, with which the Ministry of Defense entered into deals for the supply of weapons and uniforms. Moreover, the company itself did not produce anything, but purchased them from Slovak and Croatian partners. For example, the Slovak company Sevotech was supposed to supply mortar shells. What she didn’t do. By the way, people started talking about thefts back in August last year. And finally it came to searches and arrests.