 "4 arrested in massive drone scam in Ukraine. What’s it all about?")
Ukraine has busted a massive drone scam.
At least four officials have been arrested, as per President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The development comes days after Ukraine’s Parliament passed a law on Thursday making Ukraine’s two main anti-corruption agencies independent again.
Zelensky on Tuesday had signed a bill into law increasing his control over the agencies.
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (Nabu) and Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (Sabo) said the “large-scale corruption scheme” misused budget funds allocated for defence.
Zelensky said the scam was "absolutely immoral” and said the officials “were exposed for taking bribes”.
Drones have been a vital part of Ukraine’s battle against Russia since the beginning of the war.
But what do we know about this scam?
Let’s take a closer look:
What we know
According to the anti-corruption agencies, those involved in the scheme comprised a sitting member of parliament, regional officials, the head of a unit of the National Guard and a director of a firm supplying Ukraine with drones.
The scheme involved Ukraine buying signal jamming equipment and weapons systems at inflated prices.
Participants were receiving a kickback of a third of the contract’s cost.
However, as per a media reports Andriy Yurchenko, the head of the Rubizhne City Military Administration and Serhiy Haidai, the former head of the Luhansk Regional State Administration, were named.
Oleksiy Kuznetsov, a member of parliament from the “Servant of the People” party was also accused in the case.
“The essence of the scheme was to conclude state contracts with supplier companies at deliberately inflated prices”, the agencies said in a statement.
The interior ministry said the members of the National Guard had been suspended.
“There can only be zero tolerance for corruption, clear teamwork to expose corruption, and ultimately a fair sentence,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.
“It is important that anti-corruption institutions work independently, and the law adopted on Thursday guarantees them all the opportunities for a real fight against corruption,” he added.
The two agencies have investigated the embezzlement of millions of dollars over the years.
In 2023, a joint probe by the two agencies resulted in Ukraine’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Vsevolod Kniaziev being arrested in connection with a $3 million bribe.
Zelenskyy makes about-turn
Zelenskyy , who has far-reaching wartime presidential powers and still enjoys broad approval among Ukrainians, was forced into a rare political about-face when his attempt to bring Nabu and Sapo under the control of his prosecutor-general sparked the first nationwide protests of the war.
Zelenskyy subsequently said that he had heard the people’s anger, and submitted a bill restoring the agencies’ former independence, which was voted through by parliament on Thursday.
Kyrylo Budanov, the chief of Ukrainian Defence Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), thanked Zelensky for “hearing the public’s call” and “not making a mistake”.
Ukraine’s European allies praised the move, having voiced concerns about the original stripping of the agencies’ status.
Top European officials had told Zelenskyy that Ukraine was jeopardising its bid for European Union membership by curbing the powers of its anti-graft authorities.
“It is important that anti-corruption institutions operate independently, and the law adopted on Thursday guarantees them every opportunity for a real fight against corruption,” Zelenskyy wrote on Saturday after meeting the heads of the agencies, who briefed him on the latest investigation.
Thousands of protesters rallied in Kyiv and other cities in recent days in a rare show of discontent after lawmakers led by Zelenskyy’s ruling party rushed through amendments last week defanging the respected agencies.
Zelenskyy reversed course after the outcry, under pressure from top European officials, who warned that Ukraine was jeopardising its bid for European Union membership by curbing the powers of its anti-graft authorities.
He signed a new bill on Thursday shortly after lawmakers approved it 331 to 0, saying the legislation “guarantees the absence of any kind of outside influence (or) interference”.
“Ukraine is a democracy - there are definitely no doubts,” Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging app.
Thursday’s law reverses amendments that had given his hand-picked general prosecutor the power to transfer cases away from the agencies and reassign prosecutors, a step critics alleged had been designed to protect his allies from prosecution.
Eradicating graft and shoring up the rule of law are key requirements for Kyiv to join the EU, which Ukrainians see as critical to their future as they fend off a Russian invasion.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described Thursday’s law as “a welcome step” and urged Ukraine to continue its reform drive.
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