Corruption in UAV and EW procurement: court sends MP Kuznetsov to custody

The High Anti-Corruption Court sent People's Deputy Oleksiy Kuznetsov, who is a defendant in a corruption case involving the procurement of drones and electronic warfare equipment, to custody for 60 days with the possibility of posting bail in the amount of eight million hryvnias, reports UNN.

Details

The HACC judge sent MP Oleksiy Kuznetsov to custody for 60 days with the possibility of posting bail in the amount of 8 million hryvnias.

Addition

NABU and SAP exposed a large-scale corruption scheme in the procurement of UAVs and electronic warfare equipment. According to the investigation, in 2024–2025, an organized group of persons systematically seized budget funds that local self-government bodies directed to the needs of defense forces.

Among the established episodes is the procurement of electronic warfare systems. For signing a contract at a deliberately inflated price, the group members received up to 30% of the contract amount as an undue benefit. According to a similar scheme, FPV drones were purchased for almost UAH 10 million. The enterprise supplied products at a price inflated by about USD 80,000, after which officials transferred part of the funds in the form of a "kickback" to the members of the criminal group.

With the consent of the Prosecutor General, a motion was sent to the court to choose a preventive measure for the suspect people's deputy in the form of detention with the alternative of posting bail in the amount of UAH 30 million.

Motions were also sent to the court to choose preventive measures for other defendants in the case.

SAP and NABU reported suspicion to the participants of the organized criminal group exposed the day before, involved in a corruption scheme during the procurement of UAVs and electronic warfare equipment.