Abused soldiers: platoon commander of the 211th Brigade was notified of suspicion and put on the wanted list

The platoon commander of the 211th Pontoon and Bridge Brigade, who abused his subordinate soldiers, was notified of suspicion. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, due to the fact that the suspect is hiding from the investigation, he was put on the wanted list, UNN reports.

"...the commander of one of the platoons of the pontoon-bridge battalion of the 211th pontoon-bridge brigade was notified of suspicion of abuse of power by a military official, unauthorized leaving of a military unit, and desertion (Part 5 of Article 426-1, Part 5 of Article 407, Part 4 of Article 408 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine)," the statement said.

Details

According to the investigation, from February to May 2024, the suspect repeatedly used violence against at least three servicemen while in the area of operations in eastern Ukraine.

In February 2024, while in the Dnipro region, he beat a soldier for being intoxicated. The officer kicked him in the face and continued to beat him in other parts of his body. Later, while in Donetsk region, the suspect beat the soldier again. He ordered his subordinates to tie him to a wooden structure.

The investigation revealed that the suspect had beaten another soldier in Dnipropetrovs'k region over a dispute over the publication of a video of inadequate living conditions on the Internet.

In addition, in May, while in Kharkiv region, he beat a subordinate for allegedly treating him improperly.

The investigation is ongoing, and all facts of violence against soldiers in the brigade are being established.

"Due to the fact that the suspect is hiding from the investigation, he has been put on the wanted list," the Prosecutor General's Office summarized.

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Context

Soldiers of the 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Support Forces told the media about bullying, extortion and nepotism.

Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets statedthat he had sent letters to the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the Military Law Enforcement Service in the Armed Forces to verify the information and conduct an internal investigation for further response. 

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi initiated an inspection of the 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade of the Armed Forces Support Forces due to reports of abuse of soldiers. The commander of the military unit was suspended for the duration of the inspection.

Subsequently, criminal proceedings were initiated over the illegal actions of the commanders of the 211th Pontoon and Bridge Brigade, and the commander of the said brigade was notified of suspicion of abuse of office. 

The investigation found that in the fall of 2023, he engaged four subordinates to build his house in Khmelnytskyi region instead of serving in combat zones. According to the documents, the soldiers were on the front line and received salaries and combat payments totaling almost a million hryvnias.

The house is being built in the Khmelnytskyi region on the territory of the Slobidsko-Kulchyievetska community. Suspilne correspondents were there and talked to the head of the community. He said that he did not know about the situation with the involvement of the military in the construction. The house is being built for the mother of a brigadier. The head says the investigators did not question him on this issue.

The Prosecutor General's Office said that they are also investigating possible illegal actions of the brigade officers: physical violence against subordinates, extortion of money and abuse of power. The investigation was assigned to the State Bureau of Investigation.