Air Force logistics commander and head of SSU in Zhytomyr region served suspicion notices in bribery case
Law enforcement officers have served notices of suspicion to the Commander of Logistics of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) Department in Zhytomyr region in a case involving the embezzlement of budget funds allocated for the construction of protective structures for aircraft.
This was reported by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, Censor.NET informs.
Corruption suspicions
The names of the suspects have not been officially disclosed; however, according to media reports, they are Colonel Andrii Ukrainets, Commander of Logistics in the Air Force, and Colonel Volodymyr Kompanychenko, Head of the SSU Department in Zhytomyr region.
The suspects are charged with actions related to abuse of authority and official powers by a military official committed by a group of persons in prior conspiracy under martial law, as well as offering and providing an unlawful benefit to an official (Part 5 of Article 426-1 and Part 3 of Article 369 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The maximum penalty under the first article is 12 years’ imprisonment; under the second, up to eight years, with confiscation of property.
Kravchenko recalled that the case concerns UAH 1.4 billion allocated for the construction of modular aircraft shelters.
After inspections found that the structures did not meet engineering protection requirements, the officials allegedly attempted to "resolve the issue" by offering and providing UAH 13.8 million (1% of the total contract value) in exchange for non-interference by the SBU’s military counterintelligence and for the involvement of "loyal" private auditors to prepare formal positive conclusions on the quality of the work.
Recording of conversations about corruption crimes
According to him, the details of this scheme are already known to law enforcement. The Prosecutor General also cited a recording, as claimed, of conversations between the two suspects and an officer of the SSU’s military counterintelligence department.
He also stated that particular attention should be paid to the role of the Head of the SSU Department in Zhytomyr region, who, according to the investigation, personally involved one of his trusted contractors in the construction.
In the conversations documented by the investigation, the officials clearly express readiness to formally close the works regardless of the outcome, provided there are "signed documents" and the required audit conclusion.
- Moreover, one participant directly questions the importance of actually carrying out the works, emphasizing that no one is interested in their real implementation, while another assures that "within a week the issue will be closed" and that "after that everything is very simple here, it’s first-grade math," Kravchenko added.
Their main task was to transfer payments to contractors as quickly as possible. The scheme, in fact, was launched even before construction began — advance payments under the contracts amounted to up to 70% of the total funding.
More about the case
- It was previously reported on February 25 that the Commander of Logistics of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Head of the SBU Department in Zhytomyr region had been exposed for taking a $320,000 bribe.
