Officials of defense plant in Dnipropetrovsk region put over 120,000 unsuitable mortar rounds on front – PGO
Law enforcement officers have reported suspicions to two officials of a defense plant in Dnipropetrovsk region and two accomplices who put more than 120,000 unsuitable mortar rounds on the front, the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) said.
"Under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor General's Office, suspicions were reported to the general director of the defense plant, his first deputy, as well as the head of the quality control group of the military representative office of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the former head of this representative office," the department said on the Telegram channel on Tuesday.
According to the prosecutor's office, they are charged with obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations, which led to grave consequences (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
According to the investigation, in 2024, the management of a defense plant in Dnipropetrovsk region concluded a contract for the production of ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the Defense Procurement Agency.
"The enterprise was supposed to supply the army with wholesale batches of 120mm mortar rounds worth over UAH 11 billion. According to the expert's conclusions, a mixture of powders was used during the production of shells, one of which was not intended for use in charges up to 120mm mortar rounds, which led to unstable operation of the entire powder charge," the report reads.
In addition, as the prosecutor's office said, the primers-igniters were defective, which led to misfires.
"The suspects, understanding the above problems, did not stop production in order to profit from the state order. At the same time, the officials of the military representation involved in the scheme did not exercise proper control over the quality of the products and entered false information into the reporting documentation," the PGO said in the report.
As a result, the servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were issued with over 120,000 unusable rounds, which were recalled from the front line, which caused significant damage to the combat capability of the Defense Forces.
Law enforcement officers detained the suspects, and the issue of choosing a preventive measure is currently being resolved.
The criminal offense was exposed by prosecutors together with employees of the States Security Service of Ukraine with the assistance of the Ministry of Defense.
