Commander to stand trial for keeping soldiers in rear for bribes

The battalion commander, in addition to leaving soldiers behind for money, also used subordinate army soldiers for construction work on his own land in Uzhhorod.

The State Bureau of Investigation has completed an investigation into a battalion commander in a military unit in Transcarpathia who left his subordinates to serve in the rear for money. The indictment has been sent to court.

SBI employees, in cooperation with the SBU, exposed the attacker in September last year. 

Part of the battalion's personnel was to go to the combat zone. The commander offered his subordinates a payment for the opportunity to stay in the rear and guard critical infrastructure facilities in western Ukraine. The official involved a subordinate soldier in illegal activities, who was supposed to collect money from the servicemen.

Law enforcement officers documented receiving $1,300 from one of their subordinates for including him on the list of "rear guards." It is noted that other servicemen also paid for a place in the security company.

Since the decision to move soldiers is made by the chief of staff, the person involved decided to involve him in cooperation, offering to approve the list of those who would remain in the rear for $5,000. After transferring the money to the chief of staff, who acted in cooperation with law enforcement officers, the Bureau employees detained the battalion commander and his accomplice.

It turned out that the battalion commander also used subordinate soldiers for construction work on his own land plot in Uzhhorod. From July to September 2024, three servicemen worked on its construction instead of guarding bridges in Transcarpathia.

The battalion commander is accused of receiving and providing unlawful benefits, as well as abuse of official authority (Part 3 of Article 368, Part 1 of Article 369, Part 5 of Article 426-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The accomplice serviceman is accused of aiding and abetting in obtaining unlawful benefit (Part 5 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The sanction of this article provides for a penalty of imprisonment for a term of up to ten years, with confiscation of property.

The court chose a preventive measure for both defendants - detention with the possibility of posting bail - 242.2 thousand UAH.

At the same time, after posting bail, the battalion commander returned to the pre-trial detention center because he met with witnesses and tried to influence them. At the request of the State Bureau of Investigation, his preventive measure was changed to detention without the option of bail. The amount of the previously posted bail was sent to the state revenue.

We will remind, earlier in the Khmelnytskyi region, an RTCP official was exposed for taking a bribe.

We also wrote that the State Bureau of Investigation uncovered a scheme of abuses in the Trade and Commerce Centers of Kyiv and Volyn.