Attorney General: Scheme to Embezzle Budget Funds for Humanitarian Demining in Kherson Exposed with Losses of 6.3 Million UAH
On Thursday, October 26, Ukraine's Attorney General Ruslan Kravchenko announced the exposure of a criminal scheme involving the embezzlement of budget funds allocated for humanitarian demining in the Kherson region, resulting in losses amounting to 6.3 million UAH.
On Thursday, October 26, Ukraine's Attorney General Ruslan Kravchenko announced the exposure of a criminal scheme involving the embezzlement of budget funds allocated for humanitarian demining in the Kherson region, resulting in losses amounting to 6.3 million UAH. In addition to this case, similar incidents are under investigation in the Mykolaiv and Chernihiv regions.
In a statement posted on the social media platform Telegram, Kravchenko indicated that law enforcement officials have already informed the director of the company responsible for demining, as well as the leader of the group of sappers, that they are under suspicion. According to the investigation, these individuals won tenders for clearing land in the Kherson region through a network of controlled firms. However, it turned out that these areas were already safe and were actively used by local farmers for agricultural purposes.
According to the information provided by the Attorney General, the individuals involved in the case resorted to deception to create an illusion of danger in the territories they were supposedly demining. They dug up the soil and placed objects resembling munitions, which allowed them to falsify documents indicating false volumes of work completed. Farmers who suffered from these actions have already provided testimony.
Kravchenko further clarified that as part of the investigation, similar cases are being examined in Mykolaiv and Chernihiv, where over 600 hectares of land are involved and potential losses exceed 53 million UAH. This highlights the scale of the problem faced not only by Kherson but also by neighboring regions.
The actions of the suspects have been classified under part 5 of Article 191 and part 2 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. According to these articles, they face up to 12 years of imprisonment along with asset confiscation. Preventive measures against the suspects have already been chosen, indicating the seriousness of the situation and the intent of law enforcement to punish those responsible for this scheme.
This case once again underscores the importance of monitoring the use of budget funds, especially in wartime, when humanitarian programs are crucial for supporting the population. The Attorney General has called for active cooperation with the public and farmers who may witness similar abuses to prevent such incidents in the future.