Suspects in the case of 120 thousand defective mines for the Armed Forces of Ukraine are taken into custody
30 April 21:40
On April 30, the Shevchenkivskyi Court of Kyiv remanded in custody two officials suspected of involvement in the manufacture and supply of more than 120,000 dangerous mortar rounds for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This was reported by the Anti-Corruption Action Center, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
The former head of one of the military missions of the Defense Ministry, Mykhailo Shkurenko, and the head of the control group, Yuriy Yaresko, were taken into custody without bail.
In addition to them, the general director of a defense plant, Leonid Shyman, and his first deputy, Oleksiy Kirichenko, are also suspected. The issue of choosing a measure of restraint against them is currently being resolved.
What is known about the case?
According to the investigation, in 2024, the management of a defense plant in Dnipropetrovs’k region entered into an agreement with the Defense Procurement Agency to manufacture ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The company was to supply wholesale batches of 120-mm mortar rounds worth more than UAH 11 billion.
The expert found that the production process used a mixture of powders, one of which was not designed for 120 mm mortar rounds, which led to unstable charge performance. The fuze capsules were also defective, causing misfires. Despite this, production was not stopped.
In total, the Ministry of Strategic Industries reported three cases of defective mortar shells.
The Ministry of Defense confirmed that they had recalled 120-mm mortars, and the State Bureau of Investigation opened a criminal investigation. They promise to make “appropriate personnel decisions” regarding the responsible officials.
