Deputy Defence Minister Mstyslav Banych failed to declare ex-wife's assets after divorce

Defence procurement reform under scrutiny

Mstyslav Banych led the reform of the defence procurement sector after taking up the post of Deputy Minister of Defence. This area is considered the most expensive and most vulnerable to corruption under martial law.

Banych's career is closely linked to Mykhailo Fedorov's team. In 2019, he became an adviser at the Ministry of Digital Transformation, where he was responsible for the development of the "Diia" platform. After serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and following Fedorov's dismissal in July 2026, Banych retained his position under the new head of the ministry, Yevhen Khmara.

The transparency issue

A person demanding transparency from army suppliers must be maximally open themselves. However, there are significant gaps in Banych's declarations related to his wife, Alina Tornagi.

Tornagi was officially positioned as the marketing director of "Diia" and the Ministry of Digital Transformation, as well as an external adviser to Fedorov, although these claims do not correspond to reality.

Status change and undeclared assets

In late December 2025, the couple divorced. In the declaration for that year, Tornagi no longer appears as "wife" but as "other relationship". Meanwhile, since they lived together for more than 183 days during the previous year, Banych was obliged to declare his ex-wife's income and assets.

In 2024, Banych indicated Tornagi's income as an entrepreneur at 1.96 million hryvnia and 45,000 US dollars in cash. The declaration for the following year listed only two cars and a shared apartment. At the same time, the official did not note that a family member had not provided information about their assets.

Criminal liability threshold

To assess the scale, let us cite the figures: the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons in 2025 is 3,028 hryvnia. According to Article 366-2 of the Criminal Code, criminal liability for false declaration arises if the amount exceeds 500 subsistence minimums, i.e. approximately 1.5 million hryvnia.

Tornagi's total income and cash for 2024 amounted to over 3.8 million hryvnia. The National Agency on Corruption Prevention must determine whether the undeclared amount for 2025 exceeded the threshold established by law.