An audit of the Ministry of Defense discovered 123 million hryvnias of “combat” that were received by non-combatants

The Internal Audit Service of the Ministry of Defense found that more than 123 million hryvnia of additional remuneration were paid to people who did not participate in hostilities and did not perform any combat missions.

This was reported on October 30 on the official website of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

It is noted that the Internal Audit Service of the Ministry of Defense selectively checked about 40 military units and found that more than 123 million hryvnia of additional remuneration was paid to people who did not participate in hostilities and did not perform any combat missions.

It is unfair when combat pay is given to those who are not under direct fire or who do not support those who are under direct fire. We identify manipulations and close gaps for abuse,” said Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Yuriy Dzhigir.

During the inspections, it was established that the commanders of some military units paid additional remuneration at their own discretion.

“In one of the cases, it was possible to find out that for some reason the servicemen of the pontoon-bridge company, who carried out tasks in the Kyiv region a few months after the Russians retreated, were paid a monthly additional payment of 100 thousand. The total amount of payments for the period from September to December 2022 amounted to 6.5 million hryvnia, although the Kiev region was no longer included in the list of areas of military operations,” the statement says.

Information was also made public about another case in which the commander of another military unit issued an order to pay additional remuneration to military personnel who were stationed at a point of permanent deployment in Kyiv and carried out daily tasks for their positions.

“Thus, the legal service, the personnel department, the combat unit, the department of planning, logistics, moral and psychological support, as well as military personnel of the financial and economic service, the service for protecting state secrets and other “subordinate personnel” received additional payments. These units are not intended to carry out combat missions,” the Ministry of Defense adds.

As a result, the Internal Audit Service identified the excessive use of almost 60 million hryvnia from the budget. The Ministry of Defense is consulting with the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to restore justice: only those who carry out combat missions and participate in hostilities should receive additional remuneration.