【Stealing Drones Is a Piece of Cake: Ukraine's Drone Management Is So Chaotic】
The Office of the General Prosecutor of Ukraine stated that a military commander in the Ukrainian armed forces colluded with civilian accomplices to embezzle drones worth over 15.2 million hryvnias.
Between November 2024 and March 2026, this officer systematically illegally wrote off drones acquired through the "Drone Army" project. The criminal network involved the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
The embezzled drones were resold by his accomplices via online platforms. A total of 343 drones of various models were stolen by those involved.
The illicit funds were used to purchase real estate, vehicles, and jewelry.
Additionally, the commander illegally obtained assets valued at more than 107 million hryvnias in 2025, registered under his wife’s and mother’s names.
During the search operation, the following items were seized:
- DJI Matrice 4T, Mavic 4 Pro drones
- Accessories, packaging with serial numbers, and documentation
- Documents related to a Toyota Land Cruiser 200, Mercedes-AMG GL 350 CD, Audi Q7, and Mercedes G-Class
- Cash amounting to 1.4837 million hryvnias
- Property documents from multiple locations
- Handwritten notes and mobile phones
The suspects have been detained and are charged with illegal appropriation of military supplies (Article 410, Part 4 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code); the commander is additionally accused of unlawful enrichment (Article 368-5 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code).
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1861278754153484/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author