The Security Service of Ukraine exposed a former Ministry of Defense of Ukraine official of embezzling over 100 million hryvnias during the purchase of bulletproof vests.

The SSU press service reported this.

This is an official who worked at the Department of State Procurement and Supply of Material Resources of the Ministry of Defense. According to the investigation, he purchased almost 3,000 pieces of body armor for over UAH 100 million for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“According to the data of several independent inspections, these products do not meet the requirements of class IV body armor and cannot properly protect Ukrainian soldiers,” the statement says.

The official was charged with the following articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

• Part 1 of Art. 114-1 (obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations);
• Part 5 of Art. 191 (appropriation, waste of property or possession of it by abuse of official position);
• Part 2 of Art. 28 (commitment of a criminal offense by a group of persons).

The sanction of these articles assumes imprisonment for a term of 5 to 8 years.

Currently, a preventive measure is being selected.

In addition, the SSU initiated the recall of this body armor batch to the Ministry of Defense stockpiles.

It is noted that the SSU conducts investigative actions against other officials in the security and defense sector who might be involved in illegal activities and harm state security.

“This set of activities is aimed at strengthening the defense capability of our country,” the statement reads.

Law enforcement officials do not disclose the name of the detained official, but Censor.Net, citing its own sources, reports that Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, ex-director of the State Procurement Department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, was searched in connection with the purchase of substandard ammunition for UAH 123 million.

As previously reported, the SSU informed the ex-president of Motor Sich about a new suspicion within art. 258-3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Facilitating the activities of a terrorist organization.”