The mayor of Netishyn, Oleksandr Suprunyuk, found himself at the center of a high-profile scandal that divided the opinions of the community's residents and caused a wide resonance in the Khmelnytskyi region. In December 2024, he was officially suspected in a criminal case related to the purchase of substandard drones for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The court removed him from office, but the question remains open: is this an attempt to remove the mayor for political reasons or a real example of official negligence?
Suprunyuk is accused of official negligence , which led to multi-million losses. In 2024, the Netishyn City Council under his leadership purchased 1,000 FPV drones worth over UAH 20 million. However, a third of these funds, according to the investigation, ended up in the pockets of the supplier due to the replacement of components with cheaper analogues.
Each drone turned out to be “cut” by 6 thousand hryvnias, and the director of the supplier company was suspected back in August. Suprunyuk also came under suspicion later, because he signed the acceptance and delivery certificates without checking the technical characteristics of the drones.
On December 16, the court ruled to remove Oleksandr Suprunyuk from office and placed him under night-time house arrest. In response, the mayor's subordinates issued an official statement supporting his actions.
"The Netishyn community has been actively assisting the front since the beginning of the invasion, and this is thanks to the position of the mayor. His removal from office could negatively affect assistance to the military," the statement said.
Suprunyuk himself publicly claims politically motivated persecution, comparing himself to Zaluzhny, Klitschko, and other officials who, according to him, are under pressure from the authorities.
Before receiving suspicion, the mayor faced criticism from the local community. Among the accusations were failure to fulfill promises to combat drug trafficking, irrational use of the budget, and payment of high bonuses to officials. Activists have repeatedly stated about the misuse of financial resources and demanded changes in the city council.
The situation surrounding Mayor Netishyn is causing conflicting assessments. On the one hand, the purchase of drones was an initiative aimed at supporting the military, but on the other hand, shortcomings in the organization of the process caused millions in losses.
