Law enforcement officers exposed a scheme to misappropriate drones from the “Army of Drones” project worth over UAH 15.2 million

Law enforcement officers uncovered a scheme to misappropriate about 343 drones from the state project "Army of Drones" for over UAH 15.2 million.

This was reported by the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office.

According to the investigation, the scheme was organized by the commander of a unit of one of the military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine together with two civilians. From November 2024 to March 2026, the man regularly wrote off drones.

The scheme operated in several regions, including Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Drones were deregistered and transferred to civilians for sale.

During the searches, UAH 1 483 700 in cash, quadcopters, components, documentation, two cars, documents, mobile phones, and counterfeit $50 000 were seized.

Investigators also established that in 2025, the suspected commander hid property worth over UAH 10.7 million, registering everything in the name of his wife and mother.

Now the police are identifying all those involved, three suspects are already in custody. The actions of the suspects were qualified under Part 4 of Article 410 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and the commander was additionally charged with illegal enrichment.

• In October 2025, NABU and SAPO exposed a scheme to embezzle funds for the purchase of drones for the Ukrainian military. Two officials of the State Special Communications Service and two representatives of private companies were suspected.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.