Ukraine is fighting back not only on the frontline but also against those who exploit the war for their own benefit. Ukrainian law enforcement has uncovered a large-scale fraud scheme that has stolen $480,000 from volunteers and soldiers. 

An organizer of the scheme was extradited from Armenia and handed over to Ukrainian authorities on 28 October at the Krakivets checkpoint on the Polish border, according to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's office.

According to the investigation, an organized group created fake online stores and social media pages, posting ads for the sale of cars, drones, thermal imagers, and other equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

To gain trust, the perpetrators posed as volunteers, sharing photos and “reports” from the front lines.

The mask of trust 

After receiving advance payments, which sometimes amounted to hundreds of thousands of hryvnias, the fraudsters disappeared without a trace.

The organizer and three accomplices have been charged. Indictments have already been sent to court against three members of the group. They face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

Ukraine needs international assistance now more than ever, as Russia’s war continues into its fourth year.

To ensure that goodwill remains a force for good, it is crucial to verify volunteers and donate only through trusted organizations.

Ukraine detained its former energy chief, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, on 28 October, fourteen months after Western board members quit Ukrenergo in protest, calling his dismissal “politically motivated.” The charges stem from a 2018 contractor dispute where court documents show the state recovered all funds and suffered no losses.

The detention follows a troubling pattern. Ukraine has targeted the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, pursued anti-corruption leader Vitalyi Shabunin on questionable charges, and stripped citizenship to remove Odesa’s corrupt but elected mayor—all moves critics say silence government opponents.

Between 2020 and 2024, Kudrytskyi secured $1.5 billion for Ukrenergo from Western partners—triple what Ukraine’s entire Energy Ministry obtained.

The Western board members who helped him get that funding—Daniel Dobbeni and Peder Andreasen—quit when he was fired. Now he’s in detention.

His real offense? Publicly blaming Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko for failing to protect infrastructure from Russian strikes.

Judge Kristina Konstantinova, who has a record of targeting pro-Ukrainian activists, set bail at 13 million hryvnia ($309,000) on 29 October despite prosecutors providing no evidence that Kudrytskyi benefited personally.

The math doesn’t add up

The charges stem from a 2018 contractor dispute in which Ukrenergo sued to recover advance payments—and won. Court documents show the state lost nothing.

Court documents reviewed by investigative journalist Tetiana Nikolaienko show what happened when contractor LLC “Vizyn Rich” failed to complete substation fence work in 2018-2019:

• Ukrenergo filed formal objections to substandard work.
• Ukrenergo sued in the commercial court.
• Ukrenergo recovered 4.8 million hryvnia ($114,000) in advance payments.
• Ukrenergo collected 8 million hryvnia ($190,000) in bank guarantees.

“The state suffered no losses. This is confirmed by court decisions,” Nikolaienko wrote. The actual mistake? A Concordia Bank employee issued guarantees to an unreliable contractor—a due diligence failure by the bank, not fraud by Kudrytskyi.

No evidence of personal financial gain. Just testimony from that bank employee claiming Kudrytskyi intended to seize guarantee funds—despite Ukrenergo’s documented legal battle to recover the money.

Who is Judge Konstantinova?

Lawyer Mykhailo Zhernakov detailed her record, which reveals a pattern of siding with the government against activists:

She authorized unlawful searches of Euromaidan activists in 2013-2014, allowing pro-Russian President Yanukovych to crack down on the leaders of the democratic protests.

In 2021, she ordered house arrest for activists who protested at the Presidential Office supporting imprisoned activist Serhiy Sternenko.

“Our judicial system is still, to a large extent, a genuine, undisguised, hostile agency. A branch of the FSB in the very heart of the capital,” Zhernakov wrote on Facebook.

What Kudrytskyi actually did

Between 2020 and 2024, Ukrenergo under Kudrytskyi secured $1.5 billion in Western grants and loans, of which $500 million came from the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy.

Energy analyst Volodymyr Omelchenko told the BBC that Kudrytsktyi synchronized Ukraine’s power grid with Europe in March 2022 during active combat. Using international funds, he built over 60 drone shelters at substations—more protective structures than all other Ukrainian energy companies combined.

The result was foreseeable. As Kaleniuk explains it: “Instead of punishing saboteur [Energy Minister] Halushchenko, who failed to prepare facilities, they decided to shut up Kudrytskyi, who understands energy and knows who really did what to protect against strikes.”

Western partners noticed. When authorities fired him in September 2024, foreign board members quit in protest. Fourteen months later, he’s in detention over recovered funds from six years ago.

The 2018 allegations

The State Bureau of Investigation detained Kudrytskyi on 28 October. The charges date to 2018, when he was deputy director for investments—a role he left in November 2020.

Prosecutors claim 68 million hryvnia ($1.62 million) in fence reconstruction contracts involved 13.7 million hryvnia ($326,000) in embezzled advance payments. Kudrytskyi faces charges alongside businessman Ihor Hrynkevych, who separately faces charges for supplying 1 billion hryvnia ($23.8 million) in substandard military clothing.

In court, he was blunt: “For me it’s obvious this wasn’t routine investigative work—someone from above requested these actions be conducted this way,” according to the BBC.

The charges carry up to 12 years in prison and asset confiscation. Two MPs—Inna Sovsan and Roman Hlapuk—offered to guarantee Kudrytskyi’s appearance for trial and not flee personally. The court rejected the alternative to detention.

The institutional warfare

Throughout October, NABU and the Prosecutor General’s Office went after each other’s officials. NABU exposed a Prosecutor General’s Office prosecutor trying to bribe High Anti-Corruption Court judges with $3.5 million. The Prosecutor General’s Office simultaneously investigated five NABU employees for alleged corruption.

In the same article, MP Mykola Kniazhytskyi called for using Kudrytskyi’s expertise and international connections during a wartime energy crisis rather than prosecuting him.

"Persecution of government critics through transparently fabricated criminal cases is already a trend," Kaleniuk wrote on Facebook. "It's reversing Ukraine's path toward Europe and pulling us back toward Russian-style governance."

What Brussels sees

Earlier this year, the European Commission threatened to withhold billions after Ukraine tried to subordinate anti-corruption agencies to the Prosecutor General. Mass protests forced a reversal within a week.

Explore further

They came. They cussed. They won.

Now Western donors watch a judge whose daughter praised Crimea’s annexation jail the official who secured more energy funding than Ukraine’s own ministry—over money the state recovered—while foreign board members who quit in protest watch from abroad.

Two questions remain: Will Western partners react, or will they watch? And does Ukraine need its people in the streets again to protect reform?

In 2023, Ukraine allocated $712 million for drone purchases. However, a new investigation suspects millions of dollars from these purchases may have ended up in the hands of officials from Ukraine's governmental agencies, the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office in Ukraine reveals. 

From May to September 2023, the State Special Communications Service purchased 400 DJI Mavic 3 and 1,300 Autel Evo Max 4T drones. Funds from these purchases were transferred to the accounts of companies involved in the scheme, causing budget losses exceeding $2.14 million.

Investigators say the head of one department devised a plan to divert part of these funds to accounts controlled by certain companies.

Under the procedural guidance of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, National Anti-Corruption Bureau detectives have charged two officials from the State Special Communications Service and two representatives of private companies.

They are suspected of organizing and executing a criminal scheme to embezzle funds during the procurement of drones for Ukraine’s Defense Forces.

Overpriced drones: scheme and details

According to the plan, drones were supplied through pre-selected companies at prices 70–90% above market value. Controlled firms were involved in tenders to simulate competition and provided misleading marketing research.

The investigation is ongoing, with authorities working to identify other individuals possibly involved.