Over 30 million hryvnias in fuel losses for AFU: suspicions have been raised against officials of Ministry of Defence, General Staff, and head of housing and maintenance department. PHOTOS
As part of the "Dishonest Procurement" programme, law enforcement officers uncovered schemes involving the misappropriation and overpayment of fuel for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which caused the state more than 30 million hryvnias in losses.
According to the investigation, officials in the defence sector in the Mykolaiv region organised a scheme to embezzle petrol and diesel fuel through forged documents and artificially created demand, reports Censor.NET.
Details
Four people have been notified of suspicions of organising the misappropriation of military property under martial law and official forgery.
Among the suspects are former heads of departments of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the head of the fuel and lubricants service of a military unit, and the head of a fuel refuelling station.
The investigation established that in 2022-2025, the group members entered knowingly false information into the plans for combat training of the military unit, which was not actually carried out. On the basis of these documents, fuel and lubricants were allocated without justification and were only formally recorded.
To cover up the illegal activity, fictitious invoices and reports on the movement of property were drawn up. The fuel was then illegally sold to third parties, and the proceeds were distributed among the participants in the scheme.
As a result of these actions, almost 133 tonnes of petrol and over 364 tonnes of diesel fuel were embezzled, totalling approximately 22 million hryvnias.
Officials from the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff were detained. Materials concerning another participant were separated into a separate proceeding. Precautionary measures were chosen for the suspects.
Separately, in the Zhytomyr region, the head of the district housing and maintenance department was notified of suspicion.
According to the investigation, in 2024-2025, during the conclusion and execution of contracts for the supply of fuel oil to military units, the official failed to ensure proper control over the application of legislation on the taxation of defence procurement. Despite the established zero VAT rate, payments were made with a 20% tax included, which led to the unjustified transfer of 8.3 million hryvnias that should have been allocated for defence needs. A preventive measure has been applied to the suspect.
The article provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 5 to 8 years.
What is known?
- In total, during 2026, under the procedural guidance of specialised defence prosecutors, 54 persons were notified of suspicion in 29 criminal proceedings for abuse of office or negligent attitude to official duties during procurement for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
- The total amount of damages established is 3 billion 431 million 702 thousand hryvnias.
- The pre-trial investigation in these proceedings is ongoing, with law enforcement agencies identifying all persons involved and taking measures to recover the losses caused to the state.
