What did the Defence Ministry's camouflage kit documents reveal?
A look back at reporting on overpayment for troop clothing and the Ukrainian security services' earlier investigation of a former deputy minister.
What was the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence accused of overpaying for, and why did it matter? On 14 August 2023, the question was already in circulation after reporting two days earlier, on 12 August 2023, by the investigative news website Dzerkalo Tyzhnia.
The outlet revealed documents showing that the ministry had overpaid for summer camouflage kits that were bought as winter coats for troops. The documents were suspected to be related to an investigation that Ukraine's security services launched in June into Vyacheslav Shapovalov, a former Deputy Defense Minister.
The disclosure belonged to the wider debate over corruption in Ukraine during the Russian invasion, with the focus on how the military was supplied.
Moscow's own signals
Also on 12 August 2023, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu inspected the Northern Fleet and visited a Rosatom nuclear weapons test site in Novaya Zemlya.
