Combat pay without combat missions: a serviceman caused ₴154 thousand in damage to the state

The Kazankivskyi District Court of Mykolaiv Oblast approved a plea agreement of a serviceman who illegally received UAH 154,378.03 in additional rewards for alleged participation in combat missions. The verdict in case No.478/836/26 was rendered on July 1, 2026.

The defendant is a native of Khmelnytskyi who, at the time of the crime, served as a senior sailor in the rank of mechanic-driver of the fire department of the military unit. According to the case materials, he acted as an accomplice in a group that included the deputy commander — chief of staff, the acting commander of the fire platoon, and another serviceman.

Based on orders to pay rewards for December 2024, February and March 2025, the man was credited funds for combat missions in the defense areas of the military unit in the Kherson region. However, the investigation established that on the specified days he was not involved in carrying out these missions and did not directly participate in combat operations.

The money was credited to his card on January 23, March 21 and April 23, 2025. From the total amount he passed on to other participants in the scheme UAH 67,000: UAH 22,050 was transferred to a bank card, and another UAH 45,000 was handed over in cash after withdrawing the funds in Kazanka. The remaining money was distributed among the scheme participants.

The serviceman’s actions were qualified under part 5 of Article 27 and part 1 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — complicity in abuse of official position that caused significant damage to state interests.

The defendant concluded the plea agreement with the prosecutor on May 27, 2026. He fully admitted guilt, expressed remorse, agreed to cooperate with the investigation and to testify regarding other servicemen whose proceedings are being investigated separately.

The court sentenced him to 3 years of imprisonment, a fine of UAH 12,750, and banned him for 2 years from holding positions related to the calculation and payment of monetary allowances to military personnel.

He was released from actual imprisonment on probation, with a 2-year probationary period. He must regularly report to the probation authority and notify them of any change of residence, employment, or study.

The court took into account his sincere remorse, assistance in solving the crime, positive character references, the serviceman’s awards, and the absence of previous convictions. An aggravating circumstance was recognized as committing the crime using the conditions of martial law.

No civil claim was filed in the case. The issue of reimbursing UAH 154,378.03 to the state has not yet been resolved because the actions of other participants in the scheme are being investigated in a separate criminal proceeding.

Earlier we wrote:

• Returned after 22 months of captivity without family or money: serviceman reported disappearance of over UAH 2 million
• Exposed four schemes for selling rear positions: nearly UAH 2 million for transfers
• Soldiers held the defense, and money was extorted from them: the battalion commander was detained on bribery charges
• Former Ministry of Defense officials suspected of embezzling UAH 21 million in fuel for the Armed Forces of Ukraine
• A unit commander in Mykolaiv region is suspected of calculating non-existent combat allowances