Ukraine National Guard Staff Accused in $3.3M Theft
Eight suspects, including National Guard officials, are accused of stealing $3.3 million from procurement deals and spending it on luxury assets in Ukraine.
Employees of the Main Directorate of Ukraine’s National Guard are suspected of stealing more than 150 million hryvnias, or about $3.3 million, from funds allocated for procurement. According to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, part of the money was spent on luxury property and expensive vehicles.
The bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office named eight suspects in the case. They include a deputy director of the National Guard’s logistics department, the head of its central production and technical supply base, and his deputy.
Two businessmen who owned several private companies are also implicated, along with the head of one enterprise under their control. Investigators also identified two directors of valuation firms as alleged accomplices.
Law enforcement officials believe most of the money was siphoned off through the purchase of a warehouse intended for storing food for military personnel. The property was allegedly acquired at an inflated price. Other suspected schemes involved the procurement of solar power plants and tires for armored personnel carriers.
Investigators say National Guard employees used the stolen funds to buy a 2024 Mercedes-Benz AMG GLE, a 2021 Toyota Land Cruiser 300, and a 2019 Audi Q8.
The money was also allegedly spent on construction plots near Kiev, a two-level apartment in the capital measuring more than 130 square meters, and apartments in Bukovel.
All eight suspects have been formally charged, while the investigation remains ongoing.
Reports of corruption schemes in Ukraine, including cases involving the military, have emerged regularly. On May 21, the Security Service of Ukraine said a former head of the Defense Ministry’s public procurement department had organized the theft of more than 71 million hryvnias, equivalent to $1.6 million, during food purchases for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In December 2025, authorities also opened an investigation into alleged fraud involving tens of millions of dollars in the procurement of Kozak-5 armored vehicles. Senior Ukrainian military officers and executives of the Praktika defense company were named as suspects in that case.