The Security Service of Ukraine has informed that it has served a notice of suspicion in absentia to a Russian general who was planning a "blitzkrieg" to capture Kharkiv, UNN reports.
The SBU collected evidence against Russian Lieutenant General Konstantin Stepanishchev, deputy commander of the 6th Combined Arms Army of the Western Military District of Russia. The official developed and tried to implement an operation to capture Kharkiv by the end of February 2022. SBU investigators notified Stepanishchev in absentia of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 437 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (waging aggressive war committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons)
According to the SBU, "according to Stepanishchev's plan, the ground forces subordinate to him were to surround the city in 5 days and take it ‘in a ring’. For this purpose, the assault groups of Russian troops were to be covered by Russian fighters, and Iskander ballistic missiles were to attack the civilian infrastructure of the regional center.
"In addition, during the fighting, a special forces group of Russian military intelligence (known as Gru) tried to infiltrate Kharkiv to seize the local administration building and raise the Russian flag there," the SBU said.
If the city was captured, Stepanishchev, according to the special service, "planned to order his subordinate units to take control of all administrative and strategic facilities in the city and launch a full range of isolation and filtration measures against Kharkiv residents.
However, the Russian general's "blitzkrieg" failed thanks to the actions of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
"According to available information, Stepanishchev has been participating in hostilities against Ukrainian troops in Luhansk region since 2014. At that time, he was in command of the 4th separate motorized rifle brigade of the Russian armed forces. Later he was promoted to general, given a new position, a "hero of Russia" star, and an order to prepare for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine," the SBU said.
"Comprehensive measures are underway to find and punish the war criminal of the aggressor country," the special service emphasized.