The investigating judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court has ordered the detention of a military unit commander suspected in a case concerning the procurement of electronic warfare systems and UAVs, with an option to be released on a UAH 2 million bail (about US$48,000).
Source: Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO); High Anti-Corruption Court; Suspilne
Details: The judge partially upheld the SAPO prosecutor’s request and imposed a pre-trial detention measure on the commander of a National Guard unit. The detention is valid until 30 September 2025.
This refers to Colonel Vasyl Myshanskyi.
It is reported that if bail is posted, the suspect will be subject to the following obligations:
to appear before the investigator, prosecutor, investigating judge or court upon request;not to leave the borders of the city of Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast without permission from the investigator, prosecutor or court;to notify the investigator, prosecutor or court of any change in place of residence and/or employment;to refrain from communicating with the individuals specified in the investigating judge’s ruling;to hand over to the relevant state authorities their passport(s) and any other documents granting the right to leave or enter Ukraine;and to wear an electronic monitoring device.
The prosecutor’s office stated that it is considering appealing the preventive measure.
According to the Suspilne public broadcaster reporting from the courtroom, SAPO prosecutor Vitalii Rybalkin said that the commander of the military unit, Vasyl Myshanskyi, supposedly received a reward of UAH 250,000 (US$6,000) for purchasing more expensive radar systems from a private company. According to the investigation, the officer had ties to the former head of Rubizhne City Military Administration, Andrii Yurchenko. Myshanskyi confirmed this himself.
“I haven’t seen him since we graduated as cadets. I knew he had become the head of Rubizhne military administration and that he had previously helped my unit. When I became a commander, we crossed paths again, and I said: ‘If you can, allocate me some grant-in-aid so I can improve our defence capabilities.’ He agreed,” Myshanskyi said during the hearing.
He claimed that when he transferred to a combat brigade, there were significant supply issues: they lacked drones and had no electronic warfare equipment at all. Yurchenko later introduced the suspect to MP Oleksii Kuznietsov from the Servant of the People party, who also promised assistance.
During the hearing, the prosecutor read out materials from covert investigative actions, including phone conversations between the suspects. However, defence lawyer Andrii Velykotskyi emphasised that most of these conversations did not involve his client, who was not a participant in them.
The grant-in-aid was allocated at the beginning of the year, but the purchase only went through last month because it had taken a long time to find equipment that met the required standards, the suspect explained.
According to Myshanskyi, throughout that period, he was approached by a representative of a private company, Dorofieiev, with various offers. The final offer for radar equipment met all the criteria, including price. After the contract was signed, Colonel Myshanskyi was invited to a shared lunch.
“Dorofieiev invited me to lunch on 2 August. Kuznietsov was also there – I didn’t even know he would come. He handed me a bag, which I put into my backpack. I thought it was payment for what we had agreed on – for buying either a car or a Starlink,” Myshanskyi said.
As he left the venue, he was detained by National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) officers.
The prosecutor requested that the suspect be held in custody for 60 days, with an alternative bail set at over UAH 7 million (US$167,000).
The defence argued that the military officer could not afford that amount: from the beginning of the year through July, his pre-tax earnings totalled just over UAH 450,000 (US$10,000). He does not own any property and lives in military housing.
Lawyer Andrii Velykotskyi asked the court to reduce the bail to a reasonable amount.
Previously: The High Anti-Corruption Court has imposed a 60-day pre-trial detention on Yevheniia Sydelnykova, director of Akopters LLC, who is a suspect in the case concerning the procurement of electronic warfare systems and UAVs. The court set bail at over UAH 2 million.
Background:
On 2 August, following a briefing by NABU Director Semen Kryvonos and SAPO Head Oleksandr Klymenko, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the exposure of a bribery scheme involving a Member of Parliament, heads of district and city administrations, and National Guard officers.Later, NABU and SAPO clarified that the officials had been caught taking bribes during the procurement of UAVs and electronic warfare systems. The scheme involved signing government contracts with suppliers at deliberately inflated prices.Among those exposed in the large-scale corruption case were MP Oleksii Kuznietsov from the Servant of the People party; Serhii Haidai, Head of Mukachevo District Administration and former head of Luhansk Oblast Military Administration; and Andrii Yurchenko, Head of Rubizhne City Military Administration in Luhansk Oblast.The High Anti-Corruption Court imposed pre-trial detention on Haidai with the option of bail set at UAH 10 million (US$239,000).MP Kuznietsov was remanded in custody for 60 days, with bail set at UAH 8 million (US$191,000).
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