Ukraine's SBU revealed on Saturday that it cracked down on a $40 million embezzlement scheme related to weapons purchases by the military, an announcement later confirmed by the defense ministry.

The country's security service said an investigation had "exposed officials of the Ministry of Defense and managers of arms supplier Lviv Arsenal, who stole nearly 1.5 billion hryvnias in the purchase of shells."

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"According to the investigation, former and current high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defence and heads of affiliated companies are involved in the embezzlement" related to the procurement of 100,000 mortar shells.

Funds transferred to foreign accounts

The fight to root out endemic corruption remains a major issue as Ukraine presses its bid to secure membership in the European Union.

In the details, a contract was signed with Lviv Arsenal in August 2022 to provide the army with shells, and while the payment was made in advance, the ammunitions were never delivered. Some of the funds were also transferred to foreign accounts abroad. 

The service's statement said five people had been served "notices of suspicion" - the first stage in Ukrainian legal proceedings - both in the ministry and the arms supplier.

One suspect was detained while trying to get out of Ukraine via land borders, it continued.

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Fighting corruption for EU entry

Ukraine's main obstacle to being admitted to the European Union, as claimed by EU officials, is the issue of corruption.

The bloc had presented Kiev last year with the required measures to be taken in order to qualify to potentially join the union.

The United States on the other hand, now facing a bipartisan standoff regarding funds going to Ukraine after a series of corruption charges and scandals, has also made some demands on government structural changes and policy modifications to be able to continue flowing in assistance.

Throughout 2023, Kiev has been hit by a wave of dismissals related to military procurement, with Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov being the latest top figure to be fired last August.

Two Ukrainian polls published in September showed that a vast majority of the country's citizens believe that President Volodymyr Zelensky is responsible for corruption scandals plaguing his administration.

The survey was conducted just after authorities made accusations of money laundering and fraud against billionaire oligarch Igor Kolomoysky, the owner of a media holding, through which Zelensky made his rise to fame as a comedian and later as a presidential candidate.

Meanwhile, in an interview with CNN following the social outrage, Zelensky defended his government's record on fighting corruption, saying that the West has not stopped providing Ukraine with financial and military aid despite the allegations of corruption.