Several large-scale corruption schemes have been uncovered in Ukraine, involving high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defense and representatives of local authorities in the Kharkiv region. The losses are estimated at hundreds of millions of hryvnias.
According to the investigation, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Mykola Shevtsov and Acting General Director of the State Operator of the Rear, Andriy Sozansky, organized a criminal group together with controlled enterprises: Asics Group LLC, Grand Prix LTD LLC, Kontrakt Prodrezerv 5 LLC and others.
Taking advantage of their official position, they implemented a scheme to inflate the cost of food products for the army by 2–3 times. They replaced expensive goods with cheap analogues, causing losses to the state of about 600 million hryvnias. They legalized the withdrawn money through fictitious companies, while avoiding paying taxes.
According to the investigation, representatives of state and law enforcement agencies were also involved in the corruption network, who did not carry out inspections and blocked the investigation in exchange for bribes. Based on these facts, criminal proceedings No. 12024000000001820 of September 3, 2024 were opened under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (misappropriation or embezzlement of property on a large scale).
A separate case concerns the Kharkiv region. Investigators established that the head of the Tsyrkunivka rural military administration, Mykhailo Sikalenko, the head of the education department, Tetyana Nikolenko, and the director of the Tsyrkunivka lyceum, Ruslan Leonov, together with controlled companies, in particular FORUMBUD LLC (EDRPOU 45130676), created another organized group.
The officials are suspected of embezzling state and international funds allocated for the construction of a dual-purpose shelter at the Tsyrkuniv Lyceum. According to the prosecutor's office, the schemes worked according to the same logic: fictitious contracts, inflated prices, and bribes to law enforcement officers who "turned a blind eye" to the fraud.
The Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office entered information into the ERDR under No. 42025220000000205 dated August 22, 2025 under Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
