Ukraine has uncovered a massive £32m arms scam that saw almost 100,000 rounds stolen from it

The shells were paid for but never delivered to the military, Ukrainian officials said. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Massive corruption uncovered in Ukraine A scheme worth more than $40 million (£32 million) that deprived the country of vital military supplies.

The SBU, Ukraine's security service, said on Saturday that it had uncovered a bulk procurement fraud involving the purchase of nearly 100,000 mortar shells – the latest in a series of corruption cases plaguing the Kiev military.

The department said the investigation “exposed Defense Ministry officials and arms supplier managers “Lviv Arsenal”, which stole almost 1.5 billion hryvnia during the purchase of shells.”

Fraud, which was confirmed in Ukraine. Ministry of Defense, it involves former and current senior officials of the Ministry of Defense and heads of subsidiaries, the SDU reported.

Five individuals from the ministry and the weapons supplier were served with “notices of suspicion” (the first stage of Ukrainian legal proceedings), and one the suspect was detained while trying to cross the Ukrainian border.

According to the SDU, the contract for the shells was concluded with the Lviv Arsenal in August 2022 – six months after the start of the war with Russia – and payment was made in advance, and part of the funds were transferred abroad.

But in The SDU stated that there were no weapons. were ever provided, and some funds were then transferred to other foreign accounts.

The fight to root out endemic corruption remains a major challenge as Ukraine presses on in its bid to secure European Union membership and bolster morale as the war with Russia approaches its third year. < /p>

Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov was fired last September in various corruption cases, despite his reputation as Ukraine's representative in negotiations with Western allies.

Although his personal involvement no corruption was suspected. , several cases involved the military under his leadership, one for supplying troops with food, another for reprocuring suitable clothing for the troops.