The SBI detained the Former Commander of 155th Separate Mechanized Brigade of Anna Kyivska due to the massive scale of the unauthorized abandonment of a military unit during the period of his command

The employees of the SBI in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine and with the assistance of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine as well as the Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have detained the Former Commander of the 155th Separate Mechanized Brigade, who did not respond to offenses in his unit, including the unauthorized abandonment of the military unit by his soldiers.

The Commander also deliberately did not perform other actions assigned to him by official duties. In particular, during 2024, he did not send a single message to the pre-trial investigation authorities regarding subordinate military personnel who committed criminal offenses.

It was established that the colonel during the past year had information about the unauthorized abandonment of the military unit in his brigade. The command staff of the military unit reported to him about that not only orally, but also wrote reports on the facts of committing criminal offenses by subordinate servicemen. In particular, reports were related to the unauthorized abandonment of a military unit and place of service, as well as the non-return of military personnel from vacations, business trips and sick leaves. However, the Commander, contrary to the requirements of the Law, did not inform the pre-trial investigation authorities about the revealed facts.

Because of the Commander's actions, the law enforcement officers could not initiate a legal procedure to search and return the servicemen to their military unit and reserve battalions, or in some cases ensure that they would serve sentences for their crimes.

Some subordinates had periodically left the place of service without permission, then returned voluntarily, and then did it again, feeling complete impunity for such illegal acts.

The Former Brigade Commander's systematic concealment of a significant number of crimes committed by subordinate servicemen had a negative impact on the activities of the brigade's management bodies.

Also, the Commander did not take other preventive measures to eliminate the causes and conditions that contributed to the unauthorized abandonment of the military unit by subordinates. In particular, to the lists of persons who were planned to undergo training in the Republic of France, the colonel unreasonably included men, who were unmotivated for military service. Among them were persons against whom there were warnings and prohibitions in the instructions and orders of senior management.

In particular, there were 22 servicemen who were called up for mobilization from the border regions, but the place of their registration is in another regions, as well as 15 servicemen who were brought to administrative responsibility in 2024 the day before their mobilization for military service for attempting to cross illegally the state border beyond the checkpoints. As a result, 56 soldiers of the brigade left the training grounds in France without permission.

Due to the actions of the Former Brigade Commander, it became more difficult for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to perform defense functions and certain combat missions due to the insufficient number of personnel. It also undermined the prestige and authority of both the military unit and the Defense Forces as a whole, reduced the combat readiness and combat capability of the unit, and led to new military threats to Ukraine's national security.

The law enforcement officers have detained the Former Brigade Commander of 155th Separate Mechanized Brigade. He will be taken to Kyiv to serve him notification of  suspicion of non-directed by a military official to the pre-trial investigation body of the notification about a subordinate, who committed a criminal offense, as well as other intentional failure by a military official to perform actions that he or she was required to perform by his or her official duties, which was committed under martial law and caused significant damage (Part 4 of Article 426 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The sanction of the Article provides for imprisonment for up to 10 years.

It is planned to appeal to the court with a petition for election for the suspect preventive measure in the form of detention.

Procedural guidance is provided by the Office of the Prosecutor General.