In Kyiv, the SSU has prevented an illegal sale of a large batch of combat protective equipment intended for Ukrainian defenders. Hundreds of bulletproof vests, helmets, optical devices and night vision devices were seized from fraudsters.

Now, the confiscated supplies worth over UAH 15 mln (USD 378,000) have been handed over to Ukrainian Armed Forces and Territorial Defence.

This was possible due to an operation of the SSU and the Economic Security Bureau in June, when the fraud was exposed.

Then, the law enforcement dismantled a large-scale scheme of illegal sale of military gear, which was imported as humanitarian aid for Ukrainian Defence Forces.

The participants in the scheme entered untrue information into customs declarations. They indicated Ukrainian military units as final recipients of the goods, while the money for their purchase was collected from relatives of Ukrainian defenders and volunteers.

However, instead of free transfer of combat protective equipment for the defence needs, the fraudsters sold it at artificially inflated prices. They looked for buyers at specialized Internet platforms and in social networks.

The received ‘profit’ was transferred to ‘shadow economy’ through affiliated commercial structures.

The investigation established that the unlawful activity was organized by two residents of Dnipropetrovsk region who, after russia’s full-scale invasion, fled from Ukraine using forged documents.

Following the SSU’s investigation, they were notified of suspicion of committing a crime. The investigation is underway.

The SSU has been working on the case together with the Economic Security Bureau, under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor General’s Office.