In Odesa, the deputy commander of a military unit forced soldiers to build him a house

The employees of the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) have reported suspicion to the deputy commander of a battalion in one of the military units in the Odessa region, who forced subordinates to build a private house for him for almost a year.

Since August 2022, the deputy commander of the military unit instructed soldiers to build a mansion for him near Odessa instead of performing their duties in defense and protection of Ukraine.

While military personnel worked as builders, they were paid a military salary. Thus, the state suffered damages of more than 2 million UAH.

Currently, the deputy commander has been informed of suspicion of abuse of office and exceeding official powers (Part 2 of Article 364, Part 5 of Article 426-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). It is worth noting that Ukraine is currently conducting an investigation into the activities and lifestyle of employees of territorial recruitment and social support centers. This investigation began after the exposure of illegal enrichment by the former head of the Odessa Regional Recruitment Center, Yevhen Borysov. Law enforcement agencies have compiled a database of 1800 heads and deputy heads of these centers. However, the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) has stated that it is difficult to conduct checks on all of them, so they apply a "risk-based approach" and primarily focus on regions that, in the agency's opinion, have the highest risks.

Later, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the preliminary results of the check of heads of territorial recruitment and social support centers were "disheartening."

The Office of the Prosecutor General stated that law enforcement agencies have initiated a pre-trial investigation into territorial recruitment and social support centers in 11 regions. According to the investigation, they organized evasion from military conscription during mobilization.

On August 11, President Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. During the meeting, he heard information about the results of the check of territorial recruitment and social support centers. The head of state announced that all heads of regional TCSCs would be dismissed. According to the results of the meeting, the National Security and Defense Council recommended appointing officers who are directly involved in combat operations to the positions of heads of regional TCSCs, but only after undergoing an SBU check. The Office of the Prosecutor General, together with NAPC and SBI, was tasked with taking additional measures to combat corrupt practices by officials.