NABU and SAPO Announce Suspicions in UAV and EW Case

NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors reported suspicions of the members of an organized criminal group exposed the day before, involved in a corruption scheme in the purchase of UAVs and electronic warfare equipment. This was reported by the press services of the departments on Monday, August 4. The report does not specify the names of the suspects, but it was previously noted that the case involves:

- former head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration, Mukachevo Regional State Administration Serhiy Gaidai (Part 5 of Article 191, Part 3 of Article 28, Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);

- People's Deputy from the "Servant of the People" Oleksiy Kuznetsov (Part 5 of Article 191, Part 3 of Article 28, Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);

- Head of the Rubizhna Regiomal Military Administration Andriy Yurchenko (Part 3 of Article 28, Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine); Commander of a military unit of the National Guard of Ukraine (Part 3 of Article 28, Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);

- the owner of the drone manufacturing company "Acopters" Vladyslav Marchenko and the director of this enterprise (Part 5 of Article 191, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The owner and director of the UAV manufacturing company were also additionally charged with obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to the investigation, they recruited individuals for work and provided them with reservations for a monetary reward, effectively blocking their mobilization into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

As a reminder, on August 3, NABU and SAPO exposed a large-scale corruption scheme in the procurement of UAVs and electronic warfare equipment. This concerns funds that local governments allocated for the needs of the Defense Forces in 2024-2025.

Among the established episodes is the purchase of electronic warfare systems. For signing a contract at a deliberately inflated price, the group members received up to 30% of the contract amount as an illegal benefit.

A similar scheme was used to purchase FPV drones worth almost UAH 10 million. The company overpriced the products by about $80,000, after which officials transferred part of the money as a kickback.

With the approval of the Prosecutor General, a petition has been submitted to the court to impose a preventive measure in the form of detention on the suspected MP with the alternative of posting bail in the amount of UAH 30 million. Petitions have also been submitted to the court to impose preventive measures on other persons involved in the case.

Recall, we also wrote that the HACC once again extended Bout's duties.

We also reported that the HACC extended Vysotsky's duties.