The suspects engineered a corruption scheme to smuggle mining equipment belonging to a state-owned coal mining enterprise from the Donetsk region.
One of Ukraine's deputy energy ministers was detained Monday after being caught "red handed" receiving a $500,000 bribe, according to the country's security service.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) announced on Telegram that the agency, along with the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the assistance of the Minister of Energy, had exposed a "large scale" corruption scheme organized by a deputy minister and three accomplices. The statement did not name the deputy minister but the government announced on Monday that Oleksandr Kheilo had been dismissed from his post. His profile has also been removed from the Ministry of Energy's website.
Ukraine's energy sector has been key to the war efforts throughout the invasion. Energy infrastructure has sustained heavy damage amidst the ongoing conflict.
The scheme allegedly involved an independent energy trader, the head of an energy company in Mykolaiv Oblast, and the head of a mining company in Donetsk Oblast in his plan.
The suspects engineered a plan to smuggle mining equipment belonging to a state-owned coal mining enterprise from the Donetsk region. Ukrainian prosecutors said the suspects demanded $500,000 in return for smuggling the equipment.
The SSU said in a statement published on Telegram: "For this amount, the official, exploiting his authority, promised the heads of state-owned enterprises in the Lviv-Volyn coal basin to facilitate the unimpeded transfer of mining equipment from frontline areas in Donbas. This equipment, owned by one of the state coal companies, is located in Pokrovsk, one of the most critical regions on the eastern front."
All four suspects have been charged with receiving a bribe and face up to 12 years in prison if convicted.
Newsweek has reached out to the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the SSU for comment.
Victoria Vdovychenko, program director on security studies at the University of Cambridge's Centre for Geopolitics, told Newsweek:
"The official allegedly promised the heads of state enterprises in the Lviv-Volyn coal basin the unimpeded transfer of mining equipment from mines in the frontline areas of Donetsk in exchange for a sum of money, leveraging his official powers.
"The equipment in question is unique and scarce, belonging to one of the state-owned coal companies located in the Pokrovsk region, which is currently one of the most intense conflict zones on the eastern front, as noted by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). And for which the permission from the Ministry was needed."
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