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Ukraine is going from one corruption scandal to another. The latest case is the arrest of Colonel Volodymyr Kobanichenko.
He was arrested along with the Air Force's logistics commander when they accepted a $320,000 bribe linked to a plan to embezzle defense contracts worth $32 million.
The President of Ukraine signed a presidential decree dismissing Kobanychenko from the post of head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in the Zhytomyr region in the north of the country.
The move came days after a court ordered his detention for 60 days as part of an investigation into embezzlement of funds for the construction of defense projects at military airports.
Kobanichenko took office as head of the SBU in Zhytomyr in November 2022, amid the Russian offensive.
On February 25, Homeland Security agents surprised him and Colonel Andriy Ukrainats, the Air Force's logistics commander, while they were taking $320,000 in cash.
Both were arrested in flagrante delicto.
Today, the law enforcement officers have zatrimali topposadovtsiv through suspicion and corruption. Вони использовать розкрадали костюм пид час систевой укриттив для лейканив???? pic.twitter.com/tso08K2lSH
— 24 channel (@24tvua) February 25, 2026
The issue began in May 2025, when the state allocated 1.4 billion hryvnia, about $32 million, for the construction of prefabricated arch structures to protect aviation at operating airports.
The Military Counterintelligence Department identified serious irregularities: substandard designs, inadequately protected structures, and inflated costs. However, advance payments under contracts had begun to be transferred.
Faced with this internal investigation, the Ukrainians turned to Kompanychenko to stop the inspections. The SBU chief acted as a guarantor of the deal and directly implicated one of the contractors in the scheme.
@24tvua ???? https://t.co/qIU0dHCd3D
— 24 channel (@24tvua) February 25, 2026
The two planned to transfer about 13 million hryvnia, about 1% of the funding, to bribe auditors and order fictitious opinions on the quality of the projects.
The case provoked an immediate reaction from the security leadership. The day before the arrests, Zelensky announced a "cleansing" of the services and warned that those who put their own interests above those of the country would be removed.
Ukraine ranks 105th out of 180 countries in Transparency International's 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index, the second most corrupt country in Europe.
Despite an improvement from 142nd place in 2014, Kiev is still far from the standards required by the European Union to move forward in the accession process.
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