“Hacked” NABU: the scandal around the “Army of Drones” and the dismissal of a detective is gaining momentum

28 January 2025 08:43

In Ukraine, the fight against corruption remains one of the most sensitive and topical issues. However, the latest developments around the National Anti-Corruption Bureau’s (NABU) investigation into corruption in the “Army of Drones” are worrisome. Vitaliy Deynega, a public figure, volunteer and former Deputy Minister of Defense, said this in a statement, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.

According to him, the collapse in the management of the Defense Ministry was predictable. Two main topics attracted public attention: corruption schemes involving the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the activities of the NABU.

Deynega reminded that a detective who reported corruption at the Army of Drones was fired from the NABU.

“The detective who was unwinding the Ministry of Digital Transformation and its former wallet (the SSSCIP) resigned from NABU. Because, to put it mildly, there are reasons to doubt their integrity, in particular in the procurement of drones. When he was fired, the detective sent a letter to his colleagues. It said that there were reasons to believe that the NABU leadership did not want these cases to be unwound up to the top officials,” the volunteer wrote.

Deynega believes that despite the dismissal of the detective, there are reasons to believe that this story will continue and in many ways it is a litmus test to see who is who.

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“Unfortunately, I have to state that we have a hacked NABU. Even anti-corruption activists will not deny this. The only problem is that their integrity is also questionable. At least, there is every reason to think so if we analyze their actions and posts. For example, when I first started talking about drone corruption more than a year ago, they were the first to whitewash the Ministry of Digital Transformation and even conducted an “audit” there. They did it in just a few days and found no problems there and started accusing me personally, not those I called corrupt,” the volunteer explained.

He notes that despite the pressure from the public, the key figures involved in the schemes often avoid responsibility.

Deynega noted that thanks to the noise around the Army of Drones case, after publicity and NABU’s intervention, some suppliers were forced to revise their contracts and reduce inflated prices. This saved the state several billion hryvnias, but at the same time made it more difficult to bring those responsible to justice.

“It saved the state a couple of billions. But it also made it more difficult to bring the perpetrators to justice,” summarizes Deinega.

As a reminder, NABU fired detective Andriy Denysiuk, who reported corruption at the Army of Drones.

In a letter to his colleagues, he explained in detail the reasons for this decision. Denysiuk described numerous problems in the investigation, including a lack of transparency, insufficient resources, and the unwillingness of the leadership of the relevant departments to act professionally.

According to the NABU ex-detective, most of the drone investigations currently have problems with qualitative proof, “first of all, the subjective side of the SSSCIP officials with “businessmen” who concluded almost all their contracts during the summer of 2023.” According to Denysiuk, “as many as 1.5 people are involved in the proceedings,” despite the fact that the cases are a priority.

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Denysiuk noted that the decision to resign was not easy for him, but he believes that he will be able to continue fighting corruption outside the bureau. He thanked his colleagues who remain committed to the NABU’s values and expressed his readiness to help them in the future.

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Остафійчук Ярослав

Editor