The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine on Wednesday, February 1, announced the indictment of a number of officials, including the former Deputy Minister of Defense of the country.

«The ex-Deputy Minister of Defense was informed of suspicion on the fact of obstructing the legitimate activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Armed Forces of Ukraine.—Ed.) and other military formations in a special period. According to the investigation, he lobbied for the conclusion of contracts for the supply of products for the military at inflated prices, the purchase of bulletproof vests and other things for the Armed Forces of low quality,» the office of the Prosecutor General’s Office said in a Telegram channel.

The name of the ex-deputy head of the Ministry of Defense is not given in the statement of the department.

In addition, charges were brought against the former acting director of the Department of Public Procurement and Supply of Material Resources of the Ministry of Defense on the fact of embezzlement of funds and obstruction of the legitimate activities of the army. It is clarified that he organized the purchase of low-quality body armor.

On this day, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported the exposure of large theft schemes worth about $1 billion to the largest Ukrainian oil company Ukrnafta and the oil refining company Ukrtatnafta. It is noted that according to the results of investigative actions, the top management of Ukrnafta was charged with committing criminal offenses.

Earlier on Wednesday, the SBU and the Bureau of Economic Security (BEB) searched the house of Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky in connection with the investigation of fraud in Ukrtatnafta and Ukrnafta.

Prior to that, on November 7, 2022, the Chairman of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov reported that the nationalized assets of enterprises, including Ukrnafta and Motor Sich, were transferred to the disposal of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. It is noted that with the end of martial law, the owners can either return these assets or reimburse their value.