Ukrainian authorities accused the deputy commander of a battalion in Odessa (south) of forcing his subordinates to build him a private home, the local press reported on Friday.
“Since August 2022, the deputy commander of the military unit has ordered the soldiers, instead of fulfilling the duties of defense and protection of Ukraine, to build him an estate near Odessa,” the researchers denounced.
According to the “website” of the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda, while the soldiers worked as construction workers, they received wages as soldiers, for which the state was harmed in the equivalent of about 50 thousand euros.
The Ukrainian National Investigation Service said the deputy commander had been notified of “suspicion of abuse of official position and overstepping of official authority”.
If found guilty, he faces up to 12 years in prison, authorities added.
The investigation service did not release the name of the suspect, but posted photos of the villa on its website.
The fight against corruption is one of the demands of the European Commission for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union (EU).
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, announced a week ago the resignation of the heads of military recruiting services due to the large number of corruption cases.
“The system must be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery in wartime is treason,” he said at the time.
Zelensky then denounced abuses in various regions of the country, including Odessa.
Since the beginning of the year, the country’s anti-corruption agencies have uncovered two high-profile cases.
In May, the president of the Supreme Court was arrested in a corruption case involving around €2.4 million.
In January, a case related to army supplies led to a series of layoffs from ministries, regions and the country’s judiciary.
The priority reforms demanded by Brussels also concern the judicial system, with Zelensky on Thursday changing the rules governing the selection of Constitutional Court judges.
“I have just signed one of the most important laws Ukraine needs to start negotiations with the European Union on our country’s membership,” Zelensky said in his usual daily speech.
As he said, the new law guarantees “a transparent, professional and fair selection of the judges of the Constitutional Court”.
Ukraine formally applied for EU membership on 28 February 2022, four days after Russia invaded, and was granted candidate status in June.
Source: DN
