Ukraine unearths multimillion-dollar arms corruption scheme

Ukrainian officials have revealed a corruption scheme involving employees from an arms firm and Ministry of Defence officials, who embezzled nearly $40 million that was designated for the purchase of 100,000 mortar shells for the war with Russia. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has reported that five people have been charged, with one person being detained while attempting to cross the Ukrainian border. If found guilty, they could face up to 12 years in prison. This revelation has significant implications for Ukraine, which has been facing an ongoing invasion by Russia. The SBU’s investigation has exposed the involvement of current and former high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defence and heads of affiliated companies in the embezzlement. The initial contract for the purchase of the shells was secured in August 2022 with upfront payment, but no arms were ever provided, and some of the funds were subsequently transferred to foreign accounts. The SBU has issued “notices of suspicion” to five individuals, including Ministry of Defence officials and the head of Lviv Arsenal. The stolen funds have been seized and will be returned to the defence budget, as stated by Ukraine’s prosecutor general. Corruption within Ukraine’s military has been a vexing issue both for maintaining public morale during wartime and for demonstrating the country’s readiness to join the European Union. In a separate development, Russia has launched drone and missile attacks that targeted both civilian and critical infrastructure across Ukraine. These attacks included the firing of two ballistic missiles and