10311 visitors online

Corruption in drone procurement: six suspects indicted, including Servant of People’s Kuznietsov and Haidai

corruption involving drones

NABU and SAPO have notified suspicion to participants of an organized criminal group exposed the day before, involved in a corruption scheme related to the procurement of UAVs and electronic warfare systems.

This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to the NABU press centre.

As noted, among them:

  • Former head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration — Part 5 of Article 191, Part 3 of Article 28, Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine;

  • People`s Deputy— Part 5 of Article 191, Part 3 of Article 28, Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine;

  • Head of a city military administration — Part 3 of Article 28, Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine;

  • Commander of a National Guard military unit — Part 3 of Article 28, Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine;

  • Actual beneficiary owner of a UAV manufacturing enterprise — Part 5 of Article 191, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine;

  • Director of the UAV manufacturing enterprise — Part 5 of Article 191, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

"The beneficiary and the director of the UAV manufacturing enterprise have also been additionally charged with obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to the investigation, for financial gain, they arranged employment and secured exemptions for certain individuals, effectively blocking their mobilization into the Armed Forces," NABU emphasized.

A corruption scheme involving drones

Recall that on August 2, 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received reports from NABU Director Semen Kryvonos and SAPO Head Oleksandr Klymenko. It was noted that one of the Ukrainian MPs, as well as heads of district and city administrations and servicemen of the National Guard of Ukraine, were exposed for bribery.

Additionally, NABU reported uncovering large-scale corruption involving inflated prices in the procurement of UAVs and electronic warfare systems, with a sitting MP among the suspects.

The Anti-Corruption Action Center reported that among the suspects is Servant of the People MP Oleksii Kuznietsov.

Earlier, it was reported that among the persons exposed by NABU and SAPO in a corruption scheme for the purchase of drones for the military is Serhii Haidai, the former head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration and now the head of the Mukachevo District State Administration.

On Saturday, 2 August, the government proposed to dismiss the head of the Mukachevo District State Administration, Serhii Haidai, from his post.