KYIV - Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov has suspended a senior official while the authorities investigate suspected corruption in the procurement of weapons, his ministry said on Feb 2.

Mr Umerov took office in 2023 on a pledge to clean up graft inside the ministry as Ukraine’s Western partners weighed sending more military aid to Kyiv following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Mr Toomas Nakhkur, who led the defence ministry’s department for technical policy and weapons development, was suspended after being named an official suspect in an unspecified criminal case, the ministry wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said last week it had uncovered a scheme by current and former officials, as well as businessmen, to embezzle around US$40 million (S$53 million) by securing advance payment for artillery shells that were never provided.

The SBU did not name the suspects, but Ukrainian media identified Mr Nakhkur as one of them. He could not immediately be reached for comment.

Mr Umerov’s predecessor was dismissed in September 2023 following several corruption scandals at the defence ministry, despite strong relations with Kyiv’s Western allies. REUTERS