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A new aspect of the case concerning the supply of substandard mines has come to light — a tax scheme, according to the investigation

A new aspect of the case concerning the supply of substandard mines has come to light — a tax scheme, according to the investigation

23 June 2026, 14:30

A new aspect of the case concerning the supply of substandard mines has come to light — a tax scheme, according to the investigation

Law enforcement agencies have announced new charges in the case concerning the supply of substandard mines to Ukrainian defence forces. The latest development involves a tax evasion scheme.

This was reported by the State Bureau of Investigation and the Office of the Prosecutor General.

In early 2026, law enforcement agencies announced that they had uncovered a group of fraudsters accused of embezzling nearly 3 billion hryvnias of public funds allocated for the procurement of engineering munitions for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in particular anti-personnel and anti-tank mines.

During the subsequent investigation, another offence was uncovered — the evasion of value-added tax (VAT) on the import of components for the manufacture of explosives.

According to the investigation, between 2024 and 2025, the director of a private company that manufactured explosive devices for the Defence Forces organised the import of the relevant components into Ukraine using forged and false documents.

Specifically, false information was submitted to the customs authorities regarding the characteristics of the goods, their intended use and the end user. Investigators note that this allowed the director to unjustifiably claim tax exemptions for defence-related goods and evade mandatory payments.

The imported explosive substance was declared as a finished explosive material, although in fact it was subject to taxation at a rate of 20 per cent. As a result, law enforcement agencies estimate that the state budget lost over 21.3 million hryvnias in VAT revenue.

The company’s director has been notified of suspicion of tax evasion on an exceptionally large scale (Part 3 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Three customs officials have also been charged under Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine; according to the investigation, they failed to ensure proper control during the customs clearance of the products and allowed them to be imported without the payment of the required taxes.

The issue of imposing precautionary measures on the suspects and compensating the state for the losses incurred is currently being resolved.

Investigation

Crime

In the Lviv region, a former commander of a military unit has been charged in connection with losses of over 79 million hryvnias relating to ‘combat’ allowances

In the Lviv region, law enforcement officers have notified a former military unit commander that he is under suspicion in a case concerning the unjustified payment of additional ‘combat’ allowances to military personnel. According to the investigation, the state budget has suffered losses of over 79 million hryvnias.