Ukrainian Official Sentenced to 7 Years for Inflating Shelter Equipment Prices

Verdict in the Case of Olha Drozdova

According to Главком: The Dnipro District Court of Kyiv has sentenced Olha Drozdova, the head of the administrative and economic department of the Dnipro District State Administration's Education Management Office in Kyiv, to seven years in prison. She was convicted for inflating prices during the procurement of equipment for bomb shelters. The court also ordered the confiscation of her property and barred her from holding positions involving organizational, administrative, or economic functions for a period of three years.

Case Details and Next Steps

Prosecutors from the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office and the Dnipro District Prosecutor's Office of Kyiv supported the charges. In one instance, the overpayment for vegetable cutters procured for educational institutions exceeded 462,000 hryvnias. For this episode, Drozdova was found guilty under Part 4 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Another episode involved the purchase of chairs for school shelters in the Dnipro district, where the overpayment amounted to nearly 1,350,000 hryvnias. For this, she was convicted under Part 5 of the same article.

The court ruled to recover 462,724 hryvnias from Drozdova as compensation for material damage to the state, plus an additional 1,349,595 hryvnias following a prosecutor's claim. Prosecutors announced their intent to appeal the sentence, arguing it is too lenient and insisting on increasing the prison term to nine years. The defense has not yet finalized its next legal steps.

In August 2025, Olha Drozdova received a new suspicion in a case involving the purchase of generators for school shelters at inflated prices. Following this new suspicion, she left Ukraine, prompting law enforcement to declare her wanted. In December 2025, during the trial, Drozdova joined a court hearing online from Turkey after the court permitted remote participation upon receiving documents about her medical treatment in Antalya. By that time, she was already wanted in connection with the generator procurement case.

The sentence against Olha Drozdova is part of Ukraine's broader anti-corruption fight, which has gained urgency during the war as the need for resource efficiency and procurement transparency has become paramount.

This case has garnered significant public attention as it concerns procurements that directly impact children's safety while using shelters during air raids. This prosecution reflects the government's wartime focus on rooting out corruption in critical infrastructure spending. Continued investigations into other cases of price inflation and subsequent court rulings could significantly impact public trust in state institutions and their ability to ensure transparency in budget expenditure.