Outdated grenade launchers were purchased for the Defense Forces with over 300 million in losses - searches were conducted at the office of the "Defense Procurement Agency"

In Ukraine, a procurement of substandard disposable anti-tank grenade launchers for the Defense Forces at an inflated price was exposed. As reported by the Prosecutor General's Office, 13 searches were conducted at the offices of the State Enterprise "Defense Procurement Agency" and the supplier company, as well as at the residences of those involved, reports UNN.

Under the procedural guidance of prosecutors from the Office of the Prosecutor General, the procurement of substandard disposable anti-tank grenade launchers for the Defense Forces at an inflated price was exposed 

Details

As reported by the Prosecutor General's Office, it concerns a contract between the State Enterprise "Defense Procurement Agency" and a private company for the supply of 6,000 disposable anti-tank grenade launchers RPG-75M. The total contract amount was UAH 637 million.

According to the documents, the supplier was to deliver new weapons manufactured in 2024–2026.

However, even before the contract was concluded, the Command of the Logistics Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine warned the state procurer that this type of weapon was ineffective and suggested considering other models. Despite this, the contract was signed, and the supplier received an advance payment of UAH 318.5 million.

In May 2026, the first batch of 3,024 grenade launchers arrived at the arsenal of one of the military units of the Command of the Logistics Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Given the preliminary information about the substandard quality of the goods, the receiving party did not accept them and only placed them in temporary storage.

Subsequently, the investigation established that in fact, not new modern weapons were delivered to the military unit, but grenade launchers manufactured in the 1980s.

During the inspection, signs of re-marking were found. Under the outer labels were old markings in Czech, and on individual parts of the products there were traces of significant oxidation. After removing the new labels, it was determined that the components were manufactured in 1986–1988.

According to the case materials, the participants in the scheme attempted to conceal the actual year of manufacture, technical condition, and origin of the goods. To do this, they submitted forged documents and changed the markings on the products, including the batch number and year of manufacture.

The investigation is also checking for a conspiracy between officials of the state procurer and the supplier company, without which this procurement could not have been carried out.

The losses to the state amount to UAH 318.5 million, the amount of the advance paid for the actually unaccepted weapons.

The criminal proceedings are being investigated under Part 1 of Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations during a special period).

At the offices of the State Enterprise "Defense Procurement Agency" and the supplier company, as well as at the residences of those involved, 13 searches were conducted.

The pre-trial investigation is being carried out by the Main Investigative Department of the Security Service of Ukraine. Operational support is provided by the Main Directorate for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime of the Security Service of Ukraine.