The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office announced, Monday, November 6, that it had officially informed two Defense officials of an investigation targeting them for embezzlement of several million euros on the purchase of poor-quality bulletproof vests, a new corruption case in this country facing the Russian invasion. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, a former Deputy Minister of Defense and one of his colleagues are the subject of an investigation for “embezzlement of public funds” and “are the subject of a suspicion notification”.
The two men, whose names have not been revealed, “ordered personal protective equipment of insufficient quality from abroad” by pre-paying for it in full and without respecting “the planned quality control procedure”, the State Investigation Bureau, an anti-corruption body, detailed in early October.
“As a result, the Ukrainian armed forces received poor quality bulletproof vests which cannot be used in combat without endangering lives,” the Bureau of Investigation further denounced, which then estimated the fraud at more than six million euros. The two men, who are in custody, face up to 12 years in prison.
Zelensky ‘not ready’ for talks with Russia
Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday he was “not ready” for talks with Russia unless Moscow withdraws its troops from Ukraine. “(The United States) knows I am not ready to talk with terrorists, because their word is worthless,” the Ukrainian president said on NBC.
The Ukrainian president was commenting on reports that US and European officials have discussed negotiations with his government to end the war with Russia. He also spoke after a senior Ukrainian commander said this week that the two armies were trapped in a war of attrition and positions.
“For the moment, I have no relationship with the Russians, and they know my position,” he said, adding “that they must leave our territory, and only then the world will be able to start diplomacy”. The conflict is in a “difficult situation”, but not at an impasse, according to him.
Ukraine accuses Russia of new night missile and drone attack
This Monday, November 6, Ukraine accuses Russia of a new nighttime missile and drone attack. According to the Ukrainian newspaper The Kyiv Independent, new Russian strikes would have caused damage last night in the country. Several houses in Kherson were reportedly damaged last night in a central district of the city, although the number of victims of this attack is not yet known. The port of Odessa, in the south of the country, was also damaged by several drones last night, according to the Ukrainian authorities.
For his part, the governor of the Odessa region, Oleh Kiper, reports on Telegram that Russian missile and drone fire injured eight people in Odessa. An abandoned industrial building was hit and the shock wave damaged several high-rise residential buildings, as well as a museum located in the historic part of the city, listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, Oleh Kiper said.
Fifteen Shahed drones out of the twenty-two launched during the night by Russian forces were also intercepted, the Ukrainian army reported this Monday on Telegram, which reports neither casualties nor damage. A Kh-59 guided missile was also destroyed by anti-aircraft defense, the Ukrainian army continues, reporting three other missile launches.
An investigation opened after the death of soldiers victims of a Russian missile
Volodymyr Zelensky announced that an investigation would be carried out into the death of a group of Ukrainian soldiers decimated by a Russian missile strike. Friday, November 4, many Ukrainian soldiers, gathered in the Zaporizhia region (south of the country), died when their group was targeted by a Russian missile.
According to local media, they had been gathered for a decoration ceremony near the front line. According to the online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda, around twenty members of an assault brigade died. AFP was not immediately able to verify the circumstances of the attack.
“This is a tragedy that could have been avoided,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message on Sunday. He indicated that an investigation would be opened into the circumstances of the Russian strike. The Ukrainian military confirmed that a number of soldiers had been killed, without specifying the number. “On November 3, the enemy carried out insidious attacks in the direction of Zaporizhia,” the Ukrainian army commented on Saturday.
A Ukrainian soldier wrote on social media that 22 people from the brigade had been killed and that they were gathered for a decoration ceremony. The Russian Defense Ministry, for its part, said on Saturday that it had inflicted heavy losses on a Ukrainian unit in the Zaporizhia region, saying that up to thirty soldiers had been killed.
The Russian Olympic Committee appeals to the CAS against its suspension by the IOC
The Russian Olympic Committee is challenging its suspension in mid-October by the International Olympic Committee to the sports justice system, which has the effect of depriving it of Olympic funding, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced on Monday.
The IOC thus intended to sanction the placement under the authority of the Russian body of four sports organizations from occupied Ukrainian regions, recalls the CAS, which has not yet set a hearing date.