Covering up abuse of soldiers: 211th Brigade commander taken into custody with bail set at UAH 12 million
Kyiv • UNN
The court remanded the commander of the 211th Pontoon and Bridge Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in custody with the possibility of bail in the amount of UAH 12 million. He is suspected of abusing the military and using soldiers to build a private house.
The court remanded the commander of the 211th Pontoon and Bridge Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleh Poberezhniuk, in custody with the possibility of bail in the amount of UAH 12 million.
This was reported by UNN with reference to the Office of the Prosecutor General.
The commander of the 211th pontoon and bridge brigade was chosen as a measure of restraint - custody with the possibility of bail in the amount of UAH 12 million 112 thousand
Prosecutors reportedly requested that he be held in custody with the right to be released on bail in the amount of UAH 40 million.
Prosecutors from the Prosecutor General's Office also filed a motion with the court to suspend the suspect from performing his official duties.
AddendumAddendum
The commander of the 211th Pontoon and Bridge Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleh Poberezhniuk, has been served a new suspicion notice for inaction. He did not respond to the facts of bullying of servicemen from February to July 2024.
On December 19, the Ternopil City District Court remanded Oleh Poberezhniuk in custody with the possibility of posting UAH 908,400 bail.
On December 20, it was reported that the commander of the 211th Pontoon and Bridge Brigade, Oleh Poberezhnyuk, who is suspected of abuse of office , was released on bail.
Context
Soldiers of the 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Support Forces told the media about bullying, extortion and nepotism.
The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, stated that 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 to 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 and Bridge Brigade of the Armed Forces Support Forces due to reports of soldiers being abused. During the inspection, the commander of the military unit was suspended.
Subsequently, criminal proceedings were initiated over the unlawful actions of the commanders of the 211th Pontoon and Bridge Brigade, and the commander of the brigade was notified of suspicion of abuse of office.
The investigation established that in the fall of 2023, he engaged four subordinates in the construction of his house in Khmelnytskyi region instead of their service 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.
Investigators, the head says, have not questioned 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 entrusted to the State Bureau of Investigation.
