Luxurious villa in Marbella: former commissar of the Ukrainian army detained for corruption

On Monday, Ukrainian authorities announced the detention of a former army commissar responsible, among other things, for mobilization, who is suspected of buying a villa in Spain for about 4 million euros during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which is responsible for investigating high-level corruption cases, arrested Yevgeniy Borisov in Kiev two days after a search warrant was issued against him as part of a joint operation with the country’s prosecutor general’s office. The suspect “attempted to abscond” by “changing phone numbers, vehicle license plates and location,” DBR said in a statement.

Bribes

Colonel Borisov led the mobilization and conscription in the Odessa region (south) until his dismissal at the end of June after the revelations in the press. He is suspected of “illicit enrichment” and in an attempt to evade military service, he faces “up to ten years in prison,” the DBR said. In May, the Bureau of Investigation confirmed that the official, in exchange for bribes, ordered his subordinates not to mobilize certain people in the midst of the Russian invasion that began in February 2022.

The case was revealed by influential Ukrainian media, according to which the mother of pensioner Yevgeny Borisov in December 2022 became the owner of a villa in Marbella, a popular tourist destination in southeastern Spain, worth about 4 million euros. According to the same source, Yevgeny Borisov’s wife also bought offices in Marbella for almost 740,000 euros, and her mother-in-law has bought several luxury cars in recent years.

recurring problem

Last week, the National Anti-Corruption Agency (NAPC) said it suspected the former official of “illegal enrichment” worth 188 million hryvnia (4.59 million euros). Fighting corruption, an endemic scourge for Ukraine, which even before the Russian invasion was one of the poorest countries in Europe, is one of the conditions set by the European Union for maintaining the status of Kyiv’s candidate.

Since the beginning of the year, the anti-corruption authorities of the country have identified two high-profile cases. In May, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was arrested and imprisoned in a $2.7 million (€2.5 million) corruption case. In January, the army supply case triggered a flurry of resignations in ministries, regions and the country’s judiciary.