The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained the management of a defense plant in the Dnipropetrovsk region on suspicion of supplying defective mortar shells to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This was reported by the press service of the department.
Law enforcement officers detained the general director of the defense plant and his first deputy, as well as the former head of one of the military offices of the Ministry of Defense and the head of the control group of the relevant unit.
UPD: according to Babelʼs sources in law enforcement agencies, we are talking about Director General Leonid Shyman, Deputy Oleksiy Kyrychenko, former Director Mykhailo Shkurenko, and Director Yuriy Yaresko.
The investigation found that in early 2024, the plantʼs management signed a contract with the Defense Procurement Agency to manufacture ammunition for the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The document stipulated that the enterprise was to supply the army with wholesale batches of 120-mm mortar rounds.
However, for the serial production of shells, the defendants used low-quality materials and performed defective work, which caused the main propellant capsule to fail and the entire powder charge to fail. The ammunition included additional propellant charges that did not meet the standards for combat use. All this was done to reduce the cost of production and earn money on a government order.
According to the case materials, in order for the scheme to succeed, the plant management involved officials from the military representation who worked on quality control of defense products. The military deliberately "turned a blind eye" to the defective batch of ammunition and entered false information into the reports.
Because of this, 120 thousand defective rounds reached the front.
All four detainees were charged with obstructing the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The suspects face 15 years in prison.
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