MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/. Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov stole millions of dollars to buy properties in the United States, John Mark Dougan, former US marine and police officer, who is the first American on the EU’s sanctions list, said in an interview with TASS.

"Lately, I’ve been reporting on various corruption in Ukraine, including with Rustem Umerov. Rustem Umerov was the defense minister of Ukraine. He stole millions of dollars that we know of. He bought lots of properties in the United States. I personally uncovered four or five of them," said Dougan, who applied for political asylum in Russia in 2016.

"After my investigation, the Ukrainian Anti-Corruption Commission launched their own investigation, and also, the FBI started investigating this. So Mr. Umerov has some significant problems ahead of him," he pointed out.

Ukrainian media outlets reported earlier that the exposure of a large-scale corruption scheme in Ukraine’s energy sector might be followed by similar probes into the involvement of top officials in corruption schemes in the defense sector, in particular in what concerns procurements. Umerov’s name surfaced in connection with the case of businessman Timur Mindich. According to the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), being the defense minister, Umerov let Mindich interfere in the defense sphere. Mindich reportedly talked Umerov into purchasing $5.2 million worth of low-quality bullet-proof vests for the Ukrainian army. On November 25, Umerov was questioned by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) on this case as a witness.

On December 15, the EU added Dougan to its Russia-related sanctions list, accusing him of "participating in pro-Kremlin digital information operations."