It would have been an ordinary Ukrainian story: Officials and their associates accused of embezzling money on procurements and using procedural trickery to avoid criminal charges. The officials worked for the Defense Ministry and were supposed to procure 100,000 mortar shells by February 2023. Ukrainians who fought in Bakhmut described facing down unending Russian attacks while wrestling with severe shortages of fire support.
Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, former director of the Procurement Department of Ukraine's Ministry of Defence, had a power of attorney from the minister enabling him to enter into ministry contracts single-handedly.