AJ
An investigation found that a former commander of a military unit from the Rivne region had involved subordinates in the construction of his own house, causing the state more than 2.7 million UAH in losses.
During the pre-trial investigation, the man pleaded guilty and compensated for the losses, but he still faces up to six years in prison and restrictions on professional activity.
As the Specialised Prosecutor’s Office for the Defence of the Western Region reported on Facebook, an indictment had been sent to the court against a former commander of a military unit from the Rivne region, who involved subordinates in building his own housing, and he is accused of abuse of office, which led to serious consequences.
Kateryna Gerasimuk, a spokeswoman for the State Bureau of Investigation in the Khmelnytskyi region, noted that investigators had established that in March 2024, the commander began construction of a private house in Lviv, but in order to save on hired workers, he instead sent several subordinates to perform construction work.
“Among them were servicemen who worked in construction before the full-scale invasion,” Kateryna said: “According to the documents, they were at the deployment site in Rivne and received financial support, but in fact, they were engaged in the repair of the commander’s private house – if someone refused to go to the facility, the leader offered an alternative – sending them to the area to perform combat missions.”
SBU employees discovered the two servicemen as they worked at the construction site on September 17, 2025, while another subordinate had independently left for Sumy a month before the searches to carry out combat missions.
“The commander’s driver and the unit’s lawyer were also partially involved in organising the work – they purchased and delivered construction materials, coordinated current issues,” Kateryna said: “Due to such actions, the state suffered losses of over 2 million 700 thousand UAH – this is how much was paid to the military, who actually did not perform their duties.”
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, during the pre-trial investigation, the accused fully admitted his guilt, compensated the entire amount of the damages caused, and additionally transferred 500 thousand hryvnias for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – he was dismissed from the position of commander and transferred for further service to another unit.
The man faces three to six years in prison with a three-year deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years, along with a substantial fine.
