Former Deputy Minister of Defense, Vyacheslav Shapovalov, is suspected of wasting almost 950 million on low-quality body armor

The Ukrainian SBU and SBI uncovered a new corruption scheme in which the former deputy minister of defense was involved.

Counterintelligence officers of the Security Service, together with the State Bureau of Investigation, exposed a new episode of criminal activity of the former Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Vyacheslav Shapovalov. Together with his accomplices, in 2022, he purchased another batch of low-quality body armor for the Ukrainian military, thereby wasting more than 948 million hryvnia from the budget.

The press service writes about this .

According to the investigation, two former subordinates of the defendant were also involved in the deal - the ex-head of the Department of Public Procurement of the Ministry of Defense Khmelnytsky and the former head of the Central Directorate of Material Support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

To implement the criminal scheme in 2022, its organizers entered into an agreement for the supply of a large batch of body armor with one of the Eastern European companies, the beneficial owners of which are citizens of the aggressor state.

However, an examination of the purchased armor plates showed that they do not correspond to the declared protection class and thus pose a danger to the lives of military personnel in a combat situation.

Currently, they have been informed of suspicion under the following articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

• Part 2 Art. 28, part 2 art. 114-1 (obstruction of the legitimate activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations, committed under the conditions of a special period, which led to serious consequences, committed by a group of persons);
• Part 5 Art. 191 (consumption of someone else’s property by an official abusing his official position on an especially large scale, under martial law and by prior conspiracy by a group of persons).

The investigation is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the crime. The perpetrators face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

Let us recall that earlier the SBU exposed the former Deputy Minister of Defense and ex-head of the Department of Public Procurement of the Ministry of Defense in yet another episode of the purchase of low-quality body armor for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In February 2023, it was established that they purchased almost 3 thousand low-quality body armor for more than 100 million UAH.

They are both already in custody on suspicion of other corruption crimes.