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Ukraine officials held in military drone corruption probe
BBC News ^ | August 2, 2025 | Tabby Wilson

Posted on 08/03/2025 1:16:37 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican

A Ukrainian MP and other officials have been arrested after the country's anti-corruption agencies uncovered what they call a large-scale bribery scheme in the purchase of drones and electronic warfare systems.

In a statement on X, President Volodymyr Zelensky said a Ukrainian MP, heads of district and city administrations and several National Guard service members had been exposed for their involvement, which involved state contracts with suppliers being signed at prices inflated by up to 30%.

Zelensky wrote that there can be "zero tolerance" for corruption in Ukraine, and thanked the agencies for their work.

The independence of Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies was restored on Thursday, following nationwide protests.

Zelensky's government faced an extensive backlash after introducing a bill that would strip the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, known as Nabu and Sap respectively, of their independence.

The president claimed the agencies needed to be "cleared of Russian influence", and sought to give the general prosecutor the authority to decide who should be prosecuted in high-level corruption cases.

Many saw the move as a step backwards for corruption in Ukraine, resulting in the largest anti-government demonstrations since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country in 2022.

Zelensky acknowledged public anger and submitted a new bill restoring the agencies' former independence, which was voted through by parliament just nine days after the original bill had been passed.

The head of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR), Kyrylo Budanov, thanked Zelensky for "hearing the public's call" regarding the powers of anti-corruption agencies and "not making a mistake".

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Ukraine
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 08/03/2025 1:16:37 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

We should have predicted that Zelensky would expose a few low level corrupt officials to make it look like he is actually fighting corruption.


2 posted on 08/03/2025 4:13:52 AM PDT by Doctor Congo
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To: MinorityRepublican

30% is a standard retail markup. At least it was in the 80’s when I worked in sales. We sold computers to government agencies with competitive pricing which included markups of 25% on the low end. There was cost involved in procurement and delivery and the fact that the government agencies didn’t pay for the product until at least 30 days had passed. 20% is the level at which you need to charge just to stay in business.


3 posted on 08/03/2025 4:38:18 AM PDT by webheart (Notice how I said all of that without any hyphens, and only complete words. )
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“which involved state contracts with suppliers being signed at prices inflated by up to 30%.”

And who is paying these inflated prics we wonders. I’ll take a wild guess and say US taxpayers.


4 posted on 08/03/2025 4:39:13 AM PDT by rxh4n1
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To: Doctor Congo

“Zelensky wrote that there can be “zero tolerance” for corruption in Ukraine, and thanked the agencies for their work.”

Says the guy who turned off the elections and who probably laundered billions of our unaudited “aid”....


5 posted on 08/03/2025 5:30:59 AM PDT by trebb (So many fools - so little time...)
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