It would have been an ordinary Ukrainian story: Officials and their associates accused of embezzling money on procurements and using procedural trickery to avoid criminal charges.
The difference is in the body count. The officials worked for the Defense Ministry and were supposed to procure 100,000 mortar shells by February 2023. None ever materialized. This alleged Hr 1.5 billion ($39.6 million) scheme coincided with a severe ammunition deficiency at the peak of the bloodiest battle of the full-scale war.
Ukrainians who fought in Bakhmut described facing down unending Russian attacks while wrestling with severe shortages of fire support. Some mortarmen at Bakhmut said they got just 10 shells per day, enough for several minutes of shooting. Total casualties are not known to the public but one unit said it was down to half strength in two months.
“20,000 rounds should have been delivered when there was hell around Bakhmut but none ever were. And there was a real shortage of mortar rounds in that area,” watchdog Anti-Corruption Action Center head Vitaliy Shabunin told the Kyiv Independent.
Worse, the intermediary firms and people involved may have ties with Russia, according to an investigation by Hromadske.
I don’t understand how, during a war, people in apical roles steal money, and don’t flee with the money ($35m, even $1m… And you still “go to work” everyday?) to avoid getting executed under martial law. All the more as the theft is plain clear to see to anybody informed about the operations - no ammunition? And why? How’s this possible?
Because they get away with it a few times, and it takes a while for it to all catch up with them, by which time they’ve gotten used to the stream of steady cash. Plus, if they’re actively working for the other side, they’re doing their bit to keep dropping spanners in the works.
In general I’d agree… In this specific occasion, dunno… The article talks about zero weapons, instead of several hundreds (if I got it correct). How could nobody in the command chain noticed this? Nobody had a conversation like
? Then again, I’m getting old AND grumpy