Ukraine lost $1.2 bn to defense fraud and waste in one year – NYT

Confidential audits reportedly show contractors kept receiving military deals despite fraud probes and repeated failures Ukraine lost around $1.2 billion to fraud, waste and mismanagement in military procurement in 2024 alone, the New York Times has reported, citing confidential government audits and court records.

Seven of the country’s ten largest military contractors continued to receive new orders despite fraud investigations, previous failures to deliver, or the arrest of executives on corruption charges, the paper wrote on Sunday, describing the pattern as a “persistent phenomenon.” Auditors also identified 18 companies awarded contracts despite earlier defaults, six of which had failed to fulfill a single deal.

Defense industry fraud is “a longstanding tradition” in Ukraine, American anti-corruption expert James Wasserstrom has told the NYT.

“Anything that isn’t nailed down in Ukraine will be stolen,” he said.

Read more Anti-corruption probe targets Ukraine prosecutor general’s office Among the cases highlighted by the Times was the state-owned Pavlohrad Chemical Plant, which supplied the military with 233,000 unusable mortar rounds.

Nevertheless, the company later received more business, including a contract to supply nearly all of Ukraine’s 122mm artillery rounds in 2025.

The audits also found that cheaper offers were sometimes bypassed.

In one tender, Kiev reportedly bought Turkish-made munitions for multiple-launch rocket systems through a Czech intermediary for around $5,100 each despite the manufacturer offering them directly for roughly $4,200.

The losses accumulated as Vladimir Zelensky repeatedly appealed to Western governments for more weapons, warning of critical shortages on the battlefield.

In April 2024, he said Kiev was in “dire need” of increased support and pressed its backers to deliver promised arms and ammunition.

The report comes amid a series of high-profile graft investigations involving top Ukrainian officials and figures close to Zelensky.

In August, the Ukrainian leader sacked the deputy head of his office, Irina Mudraya, while other recent corruption probes have implicated former ministers, diplomats and senior officials.

Former Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov, meanwhile, accused the government of “systemic corruption” following his dismissal in July.

Fedorov, who had sought to overhaul military procurement, has claimed that entrenched defense-industry interests resisted his reforms and has since called for wartime elections.