Ukraine Foils $40 Million Artillery Shell Embezzlement Scam
- Security Service of Ukraine detains officials in fraud probe
- Investigators allege 100,000 mortar bombs were not delivered
Members of Ukraine’s 45th Artillery Brigade fire toward Russian positions, in the Donetsk region, on Jan. 20.
Photographer: Roman Pilipey/AFP/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Ukraine suspects five people of embezzling $40 million earmarked for artillery shells for the country’s ammunition-starved army as the war with Russia approaches a third year.
The group, including high-ranking former and current Defense Ministry officials and businessmen, is suspected of taking near 1.5 billion hryvnia ($40 million) of state money without supplying any of the 100,000 mortar shells in a contract with the military, the Security Service of Ukraine said in a statement on its website late Saturday.