Law enforcers serve embezzlement suspicion notices to former Deputy Defence Minister and former head of the Defence Ministry's department

According to the Security Service of Ukraine, they agreed to purchase bulletproof vests at inflated prices - the Office of the Prosecutor General.

Law enforcers believe that the suspects jointly purchased three thousand bulletproof vests for UAH 130 million while their real price was UAH 25 million.

The former head of the department also purchased winter military uniforms worth one billion hryvnias, but they did not meet the requirements and were not used. 

These purchases took place during a full-scale invasion, so law enforcement also suspects the officials of obstructing the legitimate activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The officials in question are apparently former Deputy Minister of Defence Viacheslav Shapovalov and former Head of the Public Procurement Department Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, who were responsible for the ministry's procurement of the goods in question.

The scandal involving these individuals began in January 2023. At that time, the Ukrainian newspaper Dzerkalo Tyzhnia published an article by Yurii Nikonov, which reported on the alleged overpricing of food for the Armed Forces.

On January 24-25, Shapovalov and Khmelnytskyi were dismissed from the Ministry. Later, the court sent them both to custody. They are still in pre-trial detention.