Drones were stolen from soldiers and resold to army: 16 suspects, over 600 UAVs seized, 16 million hryvnias in losses. VIDEO
A group of individuals, including military personnel, has been exposed for stealing drones from service personnel, altering their markings and selling them back to the army.
This was reported by Anton Kovalskyi, acting Prosecutor General, according to Censor.NET.
Video from the SBGS
Details
The scheme was organised by a former military serviceman. He enlisted the help of military personnel, civilian intermediaries and commercial enterprises.
"They operated quite systematically. They sought out military personnel willing to hand over drones from military units in exchange for money. They even set up a separate Telegram channel for this purpose.
The equipment obtained was transported to a workshop in the Dnipropetrovsk region. There, the serial numbers were removed, and the markings and QR codes were altered. Subsequently, through companies under their control, these same drones were supplied back to the military, but this time as new ones," the report states.
Over 100 searches
As part of the investigation, over 100 searches were carried out in nine regions and in Kyiv.
"Of the more than 600 UAVs seized, over 200 have already been identified as belonging to military units. We are verifying the origin of the rest.
The value of the stolen military property amounts to around 16 million hryvnias," said Kovalskyi.
During the searches, in addition to the drones, 13 million hryvnias, 400,000 US dollars, gold, silver, jewellery and 15 cars were also seized.
The court ordered all 16 suspects to be remanded in custody, with the option of bail.
"I would like to say that these results are the product of extensive joint efforts by prosecutors, investigators from the SBI, internal security units of the State Border Guard Service and the National Police, and the SSU’s military counter-intelligence.
Our task now is to establish the origin of all the seized equipment and identify everyone involved in the scheme – from those who facilitated the theft of the drones to those who organised their resale to the army. We are continuing to work on this," added the acting Prosecutor General.
