Procurement during war: the commander of the National Guard explained who should deal with them and bear responsibility
Providing military units during wartime covers a wide range of tasks, including combat work, logistics, equipment supply and procurement. Each of these areas requires separate competence, since decisions related to the use of budget funds and the acquisition of necessary equipment are under the constant attention of regulatory and law enforcement agencies. That is why the issue of responsibility between commanders and specialized specialists remains one of the key ones for military structures.
The Commander of the National Guard of Ukraine, Major General Oleksandr Pivnenko stressed that corps commanders primarily perform tasks related to the defense of the state. At the same time, the activities of military formations cover a significant amount of logistical processes and procurement, which require trained specialists to work with.
According to Pivnenko, the complexity of this area lies in the large number of legal and financial nuances. Because of this, responsibility for procurement should be borne by specialists who work professionally in this area, while commanders should exercise control over processes and focus on the performance of combat missions.
The commander paid special attention to the issues of purchasing drones and other equipment for the army. He noted that even in cases where discussions are ongoing about the reasonableness of prices, such situations can become the subject of criminal proceedings and inspections.
According to the head of the National Guard, any decisions in the field of procurement require maximum attention, since after the end of hostilities, the activities of officials will be carefully analyzed by law enforcement agencies. The inspections will concern both concluded contracts and decisions on the provision of military units.
Pivnenko emphasized that war does not exempt from the need to comply with the law. According to him, even under the conditions of constant work of military commanders in the mode of continuous performance of tasks, all decisions related to procurement and the use of public funds will continue to receive a legal assessment.
In this regard, he drew attention to cases where both possible violations appear, and situations in which inspections affect people who are convinced of the legality of their actions. That is why the system of control and professional support of procurement remains an important component of the work of military structures.
Answering a question about violations of the law by individual servicemen, the commander of the National Guard stated that law enforcement agencies should investigate such cases. In particular, this applies to the facts of illegal trafficking of weapons or other crimes that may be committed by individual personnel.
Pivnenko noted that the military is part of society, therefore, among them there are people with different views and levels of responsibility. The consequences of such actions often create additional problems for commanders who are responsible for subordinate units.
The topic of procurement in the National Guard remains relevant due to a number of investigations in recent years. In April 2026, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office reported the completion of the investigation into the case related to the procurement of drones and electronic warfare equipment. Among the suspects were officials of various levels, in particular, the commander of the National Guard military unit, representatives of government agencies and businesses. After this information appeared, the persons involved in the proceedings were suspended from their duties, and an internal investigation was also conducted.
Separately, law enforcement officers investigated the circumstances of the procurement of bread for National Guard units in the Khmelnytskyi region. The State Bureau of Investigation reported on the exposure of possible abuses in this area in March 2026.
Another high-profile episode was the investigative actions that NABU detectives and SAPO prosecutors conducted in the spring of 2025 against officials of the National Guard. Then, searches were carried out both in the offices and at the residences of a number of heads of the department, including the commander of the NGU.
Later, the NABU director stated that the information about the alleged receipt of a bribe by the commander of the National Guard was not true. It was also reported that Oleksandr Pivnenko was not served with a suspicion. Against the background of the inspections, the Ministry of Internal Affairs removed from their positions the managers responsible for logistics and procurement, and launched an internal inspection.
