Three military personnel suspected of planting drugs on former "Mahura" battalion commander Shirshyn
Kyiv • UNN
The State Bureau of Investigation and the National Police detained three military personnel who, according to the investigation, planted drugs on Oleksandr Shirshyn. They were served with notices of suspicion under four articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The State Bureau of Investigation, jointly with the Internal Security Department of the National Police of Ukraine, exposed three servicemen of a separate assault regiment who, according to the investigation, planted drugs on Oleksandr Shyrshyn, the former battalion commander of the "Mahura" Brigade. This was reported by the SBI press service, according to UNN.
Details
The investigation established that during the night of August 27–28, 2026, the suspects broke into the victim’s car near his home and hid drugs and psychotropic substances packaged in zip-lock bags inside it.
They then notified police officers and the Military Law and Order Service that there were "banned substances" in the vehicle. When the serviceman got into the car and set off on his business, the perpetrators continued following him and relaying his route to law enforcement officers. In Kharkiv, police officers stopped the vehicle and, during the inspection, "discovered" the substances that had been planted in advance.
The detainees were notified of suspicion under the following articles:
- Illegal entry into a dwelling or other possession of a
person (Part 1, Article 162 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
- Illegal collection, storage, and dissemination of
confidential information about a person, committed repeatedly (Part 2, Article 182 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
- Illegal acquisition, storage, transportation, and sale
of narcotic drugs and especially dangerous psychotropic substances by prior
conspiracy by a group of persons (Part 2, Article 307 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
- Incitement to prosecute a person known to be innocent for
criminal liability (Part 2, Article 372 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The articles carry a penalty of imprisonment for a term of 2 to 10 years.
Additionally
In August 2025, the commander of the 47th "Mahura" Brigade submitted a report requesting dismissal. According to Oleksandr Shyrshyn, the reasons for this decision were ineffective management decisions, "political games," and the command’s disregard for the actual state of affairs.
As a reminder
In August 2026, Shyrshyn stated that, during an inspection of his car by police officers, unknown individuals planted drugs on him.