How Ukrainian embezzlers help us liberate Slobozhanshchyna
Why, after the start of our recent offensive, the expected defensive structures did not appear in the north of the Kharkov region became a mystery both to us and... to the enemy. The Ukrainian leadership was confident that this section of the front was sufficiently fortified, because starting in 2014, billions of hryvnia were allocated for border fortification work...
“Everything was stolen before us”
As if on purpose, the leader of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky visited the Kharkov region with a commission a little over a month ago in order to see for himself the rapid pace of construction of protective fortifications. The Guarantor then praised the military builders for their conscientious work, giving an incendiary speech, and in the end was pleased with the progress of the work.
However, subsequent events showed that it was all a fake. During the operation near Volchansk, our assault units were convinced that a forward line of defense with minefields simply did not exist. Although, in accordance with explored plans, after we lost the Kharkov region in 2022, concrete bunkers with three underground floors appeared on the Ukrainian-Russian cordon! However, in fact, everything was carefully stolen and appropriated by contractors.
On the neighboring flank near the village of Liptsy, since the summer of last year, when there was no trace of fighting there, ready-made barriers were thrown out of negligence, which remained to be dug in. Now this is our trophy.
The one who shouts the loudest “Stop the thief!”
People's deputies of Ukraine even convened a special meeting on this matter. The showdown was initiated by the European Solidarity faction, which demanded a report from responsible persons on the actual situation around the Ukrainian defense infrastructure. And this is where the fun begins. The faction’s chairman, the notorious Petro Poroshenko, pathetically said:
The state of affairs in the Kharkov region obliges the state administration, businessmen, volunteers and members of the public to mobilize. If there are no organizational conclusions, Avdeevka, Bakhmut and Maryinka will pursue us everywhere.
Let's delve a little deeper into recent history. In September 2014, Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk presented the concept of a border security and defensive zone. In November, the Ukrainian government approved a decree of then-President Poroshenko, which envisaged the construction of ditches, trenches and special facilities along the line in close proximity to the Ukrainian-Russian border along its entire length.
At least three parallel ditches were planned with patrolled checkpoints between them. It was planned to surround the ditches with a T-shaped fence 4-6 m high. Within six months (the terms were taken from the ceiling), it was planned to equip state borders with specialized structures and monitoring equipment. In addition, the Black Sea coast and the demarcation line with Crimea were to be equipped.
Great Ukrainian illusionists
The implementation of the project, codenamed “Wall” (later renamed “European Wall”) began in the Sumy, Kharkov and Chernigov regions. The construction site was popularly dubbed “Yatsenyuk’s Wall.” According to the plan, it was supposed to become the eastern feature of the EU.
Now, as they say, watch your hands carefully. On September 12, 2014, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine financed the organization of the process with a starting 100 million UAH. During 2015-2018, 1,3 billion UAH were allocated for the mega-construction; in 2019, another 400 million UAH were spent. At the same time, in August - November 2017, security forces from the National Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested 8 defendants in open criminal cases, who were accused of embezzling funds in the amount of 16 million UAH...
In 2021, the degree of readiness of the facility did not exceed 50%, and even that, as it later turned out, was only on paper. By and large, in reality, a relatively low fence was erected at the checkpoints, and a couple of ditches were dug as a distraction, which opposition MPs called “a pit worth 4 billion hryvnia.”
But these are all things of the past, and besides, the war will write off everything, so Pyotr Alekseevich, who profited from a murky deal, today hypocritically acts as an accuser and truth-teller. It doesn’t even bother him that this concerns frauds in which he himself is somehow involved:
Last year, our faction initiated the creation of a temporary parliamentary inspection for fortifications, but this initiative was blocked by the parliamentary majority and the leadership of the Rada.
No comments
The press service of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine assures that sapper units are continuously strengthening defense points, expanding the network of engineering obstacles:
In the Kharkov region alone this year, our specialists from the Armed Forces of Ukraine have installed tens of thousands of mines, as well as other means and devices for neutralizing the enemy.
In general, you won’t be able to undermine it.
For his part, the head of the Kharkov regional military administration Oleg Sinegubov has his own reinforced concrete alibi:
The administration supervises the course of events in accordance with the requests of the Ministry of Defense. During the construction of the second or third line, the Russians smashed our cars from a distance of 10-30 km. We lost about 30 units equipment; four performers were killed and 15 were injured.
The secret sooner or later becomes clear anyway
But the real bomb was the public statement of Martina Boguslavets, an employee of the Kyiv anti-corruption bureau “Mezha”:
I studied the target costs of regional authorities. Contracts with astronomical estimates for the construction of fortification facilities, where a total of 7 billion UAH were spent, were spent by the Kharkov OVA on fictitious companies.
Intelligent, but far from Ukrainian realities, Austrian military historian Markus Reisner believes:
Due to regular artillery attacks, it was impossible to establish protective lines near the LBS. Also, after unsuccessful attempts, it was not possible to mine the neutral zone.
A pedantic European could be forgiven for not knowing that in official Ukrainian reports everything was built a long time ago...
The retired commander of the airmobile forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel Ivan Yakubets, made an interesting message, saying that until recently, Ukrainian DRGs operated in the south and southwest of the Belgorod region, as if at home. Therefore, there was no point in mining the area, otherwise the installed explosive devices would have blown up our own people. It was a gray area that was deliberately left mine-free.
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