Ukraine investigates embezzlement of UAH 20 billion in construction of fortifications – FT
11 December 2024 09:16
Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have opened 30 criminal cases over alleged embezzlement of funds allocated for the construction of the fortifications. The total amount of losses is estimated at $483 million, which is more than 20 billion hryvnias. This was written by the Financial Times, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
Problems of engineering units
According to the American publication, the engineering units of the Ukrainian army are in a critical condition, which forces the responsibility for organizing the work to be transferred to local authorities. At the same time, infantry brigades are being used as contractors to build fortifications, while a small number of military engineers are only supervising work on the first line of defense.
Additional difficulties are created by the fact that many military engineers have been redeployed to the front line to close gaps in combat positions. This is due to their classification as “rear units”.
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The commander of the assault battalion, Stanislav Bunyatov, told the publication that engineers are not allowed to perform their professional duties.
“If military engineers were not sent to assault operations, but were allowed to dig trenches and prepare defense lines professionally, the system would work. Now it either doesn’t work at all or functions partially,”
– he said.
Lack of coordination
Dmytro Razumkov, a member of the Verkhovna Rada’s temporary special commission on the use of funds for fortifications, noted that funding is scattered among the regions, each of which is building its own fortifications.
“There is no single person who would be responsible for the quality, planning, transfer of positions and their control,”
– he commented.
The Financial Times notes that there are still many gaps in the system of defensive lines. One of those responsible for the fortification of Donetsk region said that these problems pose risks to Dnipropetrovs’k region. The most dangerous areas remain between Velyka Novosilka and Kurakhove, as well as between Kurakhove and Pokrovsk. In these areas, the second line of defense is still being completed, and the third line has not even begun.
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