4.5 million UAH bribe demanded for acceptance of EW for AFU: NABU and SAPO expose two military officers for bribery. PHOTOS
Anti-corruption authorities have caught two military personnel taking bribes; they had demanded an unlawful benefit from company representatives in exchange for ensuring the unhindered acceptance of electronic warfare equipment.
This was reported by the NABU press office, according to Censor.NET.
Details
In October 2025, a civil society organisation entered into a contract with a private company for the purchase of electronic warfare equipment with a total value of over 22.4 million hryvnias.
At the same time, as established by NABU and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), one of the officers involved in the process of the military unit’s acceptance of the equipment initially asked the manufacturer’s representatives for a 10 per cent ‘kickback’ of the contract sum (2.24 million hryvnias) in exchange for the unhindered acceptance of the electronic warfare equipment.
"Following the refusal, according to the investigation, he enlisted other military personnel, began to create obstacles in the process of accepting the electronic warfare equipment, and increased the amount of the unlawful benefit to 20 per cent of the contract value – 4.48 million hryvnias.
As part of the scheme, one of the military personnel, acting as an accomplice, received the first instalment of the bribe amounting to US$20,000. Subsequently, the participants in the scheme began demanding the second instalment of the bribe amounting to US$80,000," the statement reads.
The military personnel have now been detained and notified of the charges against them. The investigation is establishing all the circumstances surrounding the offence and identifying any other possible participants in the scheme.
Appeal to manufacturers and suppliers
NABU and the SAPO urge the public to report instances of extortion of unlawful benefits during the execution of defence contracts.
"Reporting such incidents and cooperating with the investigation help to expose corruption schemes in the field of defence procurement. After all, this concerns, in particular, funds that could have been channelled towards the production, quality and quantity of products for the Ukrainian Defence Forces," they added.
