“Acquired resonance.” Roman Kostenko – about the shameful situation with mines, strikes on the Russian Federation and the enemy’s demonstrative attack on the Dnieper

— Let’s start with the scandal with 120-mm mines. As reported, the Ministry of Defense has now started an investigation into the supply of low-quality Ukrainian mines. We remember that they were released in November 2024 by Ukroboronprom. We learned about it not from the Ministry of Defense, but from journalists. I think Yuriy Butusov was the first to report this. What does the National Security Committee know about this situation?

– The situation is really shameful. The fact that low-quality ammunition is supplied during the war, of course, must be dealt with at the highest level and those who are guilty of this must be punished.

I dealt directly with this issue yesterday. Both the chairman of the committee and the committee tried to figure things out. Already done [засідання] commission by the Ministry of Strategic Industries, there is a conclusion, I read it yesterday. He, unfortunately, is not for general perception, but there [йдеться]that shootings were carried out at one of the firing ranges. These were taken [неякісні] parties, which were specifically mentioned by our soldiers, and they were shot. Indeed, there are problems, we cannot say now who is to blame.

The problem is that there is a problem with the dust that was there. Now the question will arise, who accepted it at all. This is a question for the Ministry of Defense, how the military reception worked, how it was able to certify and accept it.

And there are still some questions, in particular to the main charges, to everything, how it is all done.

There is a specific factory that did all this and now there is also an investigation into it. I will say more: when we talk about the fact that our soldiers were the first to say about it… the Security Service of Ukraine knew about it before this [історія] got into the mass media. [Вона] followed this story, a criminal case was opened to directly investigate this shameful phenomenon – the supply of non-exploding, non-accurate ammunition.

There are a number of things that are missing, that are done wrong in this ammunition. And there are specific enterprises that did it, who compiled it at the end and who accepted it. And now the Security Service is dealing with it. I hope that those who did it and those who accepted it will be punished.

There is, let’s say, also criminal negligence, because they admitted that they may have been shooting in the summer, but as soon as [почалася вогка] weather, due to the fact that everything was done unreliably, such failures began.

That is why the committee works here, we control [ситуацію]. We do not have an investigative function. Of course, the Security Service reports to us, the Ministry of Defense reports. We are currently monitoring how the investigation will proceed. So that such phenomena do not occur again, it is necessary to demonstratively do it once.

— The Ministry of Defense, for example, notes that the State Bureau of Investigation has initiated criminal proceedings based on this fact. But still, I will ask: what are the previous versions? Is it negligence, is it corruption or is it all together?

– I don’t see corruption here. This is probably negligence. And maybe there was an intention, maybe people understood what they were doing.