During transfer of aid to AFU, Poroshenko accuses Special Communications Service of leaving brigades without Mavic drones
MP of Ukraine, leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko claims that the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection, which was supposed to purchase drones for the defense forces, did not do so despite the funds allocated to it.
"The State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection, which was supposed to purchase Mavics and drones, left the brigades 'without eyes.' UAH 40 billion was transferred to this structure, contracts were concluded at inflated prices, and the drones never arrived. Our team has been fighting for the past two years against the Ministry of Defense transferring money for purchases to the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection. For a year, European Solidarity has been demanding that the funds paid by the military in the form of taxes go directly to the brigades. No one will be able to manage them better than the military themselves. Everything is deafening at the moment," Poroshenko said during the transfer of a batch of drones and equipment to 15 brigades and units of the Defense Forces in Sumy region.
He said, "drones, electronic warfare systems, artillery shells and armored vehicles for our soldiers are the life of our boys and girls."
The party's website reports that on Thursday, the politician handed over to brigades and units 500 FPV drones, fiber optics, mobile sawmills, container repair shops, a mobile tire repair complex, a truck, washing and shower complexes, ATVs, Shatro dome electronic warfare complexes, charging stations, thermal imagers, Starlinks, over 700 tires, computer equipment and other electronics.
As reported at the beginning of this year, Andriy Denysiuk, a detective of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), who was investigating abuses during the procurement of drones for the State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) for the Defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, resigned from NABU and sent a letter to his colleagues in which he reported that the investigation of embezzlement during the procurement of drones "is being carried out by one and a half people" and there are no results, despite the fact that the Bureau calls this case a priority.
He said that in April 2023 he discovered "blatant facts of corruption during the purchase of drones with facts at the level of the head of the service," and in November of the same year the case was brought to the attention of the leadership of the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection, "who were hastily dismissed on the same day, contrary to all procedures."
"The result of the work of another drone unit in almost six months was an inspection and a three-page letter (after our suspicion) in which they informed the officials potentially involved in the scheme about the detected inflated price for one of the drones... As a result of the suspicion of the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection leadership and the frantic fear of corrupt officials who saw that not everything was under control in this body and the supervising ministry, only one drone manufacturer (for whom a three-page letter was written) had its prices for drones reduced by half, and the total amount of savings when reviewing contracts for the same manufacturer was over UAH 2.5 billion. The scale of the approximate theft, I think, is clear," Denysiuk said.
"The results of our investigations led to the fright of the participants in the schemes and a further reduction in the price. And the letter sent became an element of impossibility (at least a significant complication) of bringing to justice due to the absence of losses to the state. However, by our own hands (the same actors), both at the national and international levels, this "savings" is demonstrated as an incredible anti-corruption activity," he said.
In response, the NABU assured that all criminal proceedings regarding abuses during the purchase of drones are being investigated properly, and they are, in particular, the subject of an audit of the Bureau's activities. According to them, Denysiuk's department has a number of criminal proceedings related to abuses during the purchase of drones, and a number of cases have prospects.
