Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) notified the former Deputy Minister of Defense and the head of the department of the Ministry of Defense of embezzlement of almost UAH 950 million, the SBI reports.

"SBI employees, together with the Security Service of Ukraine, reported a new suspicion to the ex-Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, the former head of one of the departments of the Ministry of Defense and the former head of the clothing support department of the Central Directorate for Development and Support of Material Support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine of obstructing the activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and embezzlement of almost UAH 950 million of public funds," the Bureau said in a report on its Telegram channel on Monday.

According to the SBI, in 2022, an agreement was concluded between the Ministry of Defense and an Eastern European company for the supply of a large batch of body armor.

"The products, according to the conclusions of forensic ballistic and commodity examinations, did not allow them to be used by military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for their intended purpose due to non-compliance with standards. This endangered the life and health of our soldiers on the front line," the Bureau said.

The Bureau said that as a result of the purchase of low-quality products, the state's losses reached almost UAH 950 million.

All three defendants were informed of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 Article 114-1 (obstruction of the legitimate activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine), Part 5 of Article 191 (embezzlement of someone else's property through abuse of official position) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Procedural management is performed by the Specialized Prosecutor's Office in the Military and Defense Sphere of the Office of the Prosecutor General.

The report does not indicate the name of the suspected former deputy minister; this concerns Viacheslav Shapovalov.

As reported, Shapovalov was fired in connection with a scandal surrounding the purchase of food for military personnel.

On February 1, 2023, the SBI notified him of suspicion of purchasing food and equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine at inflated prices. According to the SBI, the official not only knew about the supply of low-quality products, but also "put pressure on his subordinates to accept low-quality products into military warehouses and organize repeated laboratory tests of armor plates that did not pass the initial tests." At the same time, he ignored the appeal of the Command of the Logistics Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces about the need to ensure proper acceptance control of product quality.

On November 6, 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine exposed the former Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine for embezzlement of almost UAH 1 billion when purchasing winter military uniforms.