KIEV, May 23 (RAPSI) – Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office believes that former defense ministers and chiefs of staff dramatically reduced the country’s defense capability, the office said, citing a high-ranking employee.

Petro Vizniuk said that the decisions taken by former defense ministers, including Pavlo Lebedyev, Dmytro Salamatin and Anatoliy Hrytsenko, and former chiefs of staff were being thoroughly analyzed at the main department for supervision of compliance with military laws. It is believed that their actions dramatically reduced the country’s defense capability.

According to Vizniuk, the Prosecutor General’s Office will analyze the managerial decisions taken at the Defense Ministry and the General Staff to reduce, disband or redeploy troops. Prosecutors will also analyze the purchase of weapons and military equipment and assess the amount of budgetary funding allocated for this purpose.

The prosecutor also sharply criticized the system of outsourcing used at the Defense Ministry. For example, former Defense Minister Mykhailo Yezhel ordered that 40 million hryvnias (about $3.3 million) be transferred to commercial firms under false utility service contracts. This case is being investigated.

Acting Defense Minister Ihor Tenyukh also criticized the country’s defense capability as “unsatisfactory” and personnel training as inadequate. He said that the army was short of military experts and working military equipment.