Details of Kuznyetsov’s corruption scheme in the procurement of UAVs and EW systems have been revealed

Details of Kuznyetsov’s corruption scheme in the procurement of UAVs and EW systems have been revealed

A large-scale corruption scheme involving a member of parliament during the procurement of UAVs and electronic warfare equipment has been uncovered.

The NABU and SAPO revealed an organized criminal group, which included a member of the IX convocation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the former head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, and now the head of one of the district military administrations, the head of a city military administration, the commander of a National Guard of Ukraine military unit, as well as the beneficiary of an enterprise and the director of a company-supplier of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The MP from "Servant of the People," Oleksiy Kuznyetsov, was exposed taking a bribe during the procurement of UAVs and electronic warfare equipment.

According to the investigation, during 2024-2025, members of the organized group arranged a scheme of systematic embezzlement of budget funds allocated by local government bodies for defence needs, as well as obtaining and giving improper benefits in particularly large amounts.

The NABU and SAPO established that one of the schemes was carried out during the conclusion of a state contract for the supply of electronic warfare systems. For concluding the contract for the purchase of products at a knowingly inflated price, the members of the organized group received an improper benefit amounting to 30% of the contract sum.

A similar mechanism was used in the procurement scheme of FPV drones. The military unit concluded a state contract worth almost 10 million UAH with an enterprise that supplied products at an inflated cost of approximately 80,000 USD. After the execution of the contract, the company’s officials handed over their "kickback" to the members of the criminal group.

At present, four individuals have been detained under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.

The preliminary legal qualification is Part 5 of Article 191, Part 4 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Currently, the issue of notifying the individuals of suspicion is being resolved.

Caution. According to the first part of Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in a legal manner and established by a court’s guilty verdict.