Misappropriation of public funds in the procurement of quadcopters uncovered in the Kyiv region

Prosecutors from the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Defense Affairs in the Central Region have filed an indictment against three officials from the city council department and the director of a private company. They are accused of embezzling public funds during the procurement of quadcopters for defense purposes.

This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. 

According to the investigation, in 2023, the department head, together with subordinates and the company director, organized a scheme to purchase drones at inflated prices as part of a local defense capability support program. The officials predetermined the supplier and artificially inflated the expected purchase cost by conducting a formal market analysis using unreliable commercial offers from companies that did not actually sell such equipment.

The tender documentation was tailored to a specific participant, with requirements formulated in such a way that other companies could not participate. As a result, the pre-selected company won the contract, and an agreement was signed for the supply of 90 quadcopters worth 14.5 million hryvnias.

Subsequently, the participants in the scheme entered false information into official documents regarding the alleged full delivery of the goods, even though the quadcopters had not actually been delivered yet. Based on these documents, the full amount was transferred from the local budget, despite the significantly lower actual cost of the equipment.

The company’s director transferred the funds received to the account of another company under the guise of payment for ancillary services. As a result of these actions, the budget suffered losses of 2.6 million hryvnias.

In January 2026, the defendants were notified of the charges against them. A civil claim for damages was filed as part of the proceedings. Since the city council did not acknowledge the damage caused, the prosecutor filed a lawsuit in the interest of the local community.

Previously, the Vinnytsia Regional Prosecutor’s Office documented a large-scale scheme to embezzle budget funds during the purchase of medical equipment for operating rooms.

As a reminder, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, embezzlement of over ₴19 million at a defense enterprise was uncovered.

Prior to this, the NABU and the SAPO exposed an organized criminal group that siphoned off millions from the state-owned concern “Ukroboronprom” through fictitious foreign companies. The perpetrators operated between 2014 and 2019 and embezzled over ₴32 million; they attempted to steal another ₴19 million, but investigators intervened.