The Desnyansky Specialized Prosecutor's Office in the field of defense, together with the State Bureau of Investigations, has notified a deputy commander of one of the military units (a person authorized to conduct procurement) Colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine of suspicion of committing an offense under Part 5 of Article 426-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Exceeding his official powers, the officer, within the framework of the contract dated February 20, 2023, for a total amount of 91.6 million UAH, procured timber from a private company in violation of the requirements of current legislation. In particular, he unjustifiably included in the contract terms for the delivery of timber to the area of active hostilities (exclusively the front line of defense), rather than to the military unit, which caused losses to the state budget in the form of excessively used and paid budget funds totaling 25.533 million UAH.

The losses are confirmed by the conclusion of a judicial economic examination.

Searches have also been conducted at the military unit and at the residence of the suspect military serviceman.

Note: According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in a lawful manner and established by a guilty verdict of the court.