Ukraine detains senior ex-military for suspected graft charges

24 Jul, 2023

KYIV: A senior Ukrainian former military official was detained on Monday for suspected corruption following reports his family bought real estate worth millions of dollars in Spain after the Russian invasion.

Yevgen Borisov was in charge of mobilisation and conscription in the southern Odesa region until his dismissal in late June.

Investigators in May accused Borisov of accepting bribes in return for exempting some people from being mobilised in the army.

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Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation, which probes high-level corruption, said Borisov had been detained in Kyiv in a joint operation with the prosecutor general’s office.

“The former official attempted to flee,” investigators said, adding that he tried to do so by changing his phone numbers, car number plates and by changing his location.

Borisov was on Saturday charged with “unlawful enrichment” and the deliberate evasion of military duty, the SBI said.

He faces up to 10 years in prison.

His arrest followed an investigation by an influential Ukrainian media outlet which reported his family bought real estate and cars worth millions of dollars in the posh southern Spanish resort of Marbella.

Ukraine’s anti-corruption bureau said last week that the former official is suspected of accepting bribes of over 188 million hryvnias (around $5 million).

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