Abuse and Corruption Exposed in 211th Pontoon Brigade

The platoon commander of the first battalion of the 211th Pontoon-Bridge Brigade and the son of the chief of staff, Vladyslav Pastukh, threatened, demanded money, and also cruelly abused the military, but was not punished, according to the material of " Ukrainian Pravda ".

The material says that in July 2024, a company commander of one of the battalions of the 211th Pontoon-Bridge Brigade noticed that a soldier had disappeared at a permanent deployment point in the Ternopil region. After an unsuccessful search, two officers decided to check whether the soldier was hiding behind his place of registration in a village in the Ternopil region. It turned out that the soldier had indeed returned home.

"The man was in critical condition: thin, pale, exhausted, scared. It was obvious that he was drunk. He huddled in a corner and at first refused to communicate with us at all. And then he started shouting that he would not return to the unit because they would kill him there if he did not give money to the son of the chief of staff," said former officer of the psychological support department of personnel, Tymofiy Ostafiychuk.

The 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade is engaged only in engineering work, such as the construction of pontoon crossings and defensive positions. The soldiers of this brigade do not participate in combat operations at ground zero. The material notes that there are a number of family ties among the personnel in the brigade, including fathers and sons, as well as husbands and wives. Mostly all relatives serve in different units to avoid conflicts of interest.

The UP writes that the “most notorious family” in the brigade were the Pastukhs: father Valeriy is the chief of staff, and son Vladyslav is the commander of one of the platoons in the first battalion of the brigade. Currently, Pastukh Jr. is no longer serving in the brigade, but for some time he was a subordinate of his own father, which contradicts the law on the prevention of corruption.

In the spring of 2024, the Military Law Enforcement Service (MLS) conducted an inspection of the 211th Pontoon-Bridge Brigade regarding the drawing up of administrative protocols for the use of alcohol or drugs by soldiers in 2023. During the inspection, it turned out that the 2nd Battalion did not draw up protocols for some soldiers who were in a state of alcoholic intoxication, although this was confirmed by medical examinations. At that time, the battalion commander was Lieutenant Colonel Valeriy Pastukh, who was promoted to chief of staff of the brigade in May 2024.

For the use of alcohol or drugs during service under martial law, a fine of 17 to 34 thousand hryvnias is provided. Thus, not drawing up protocols allowed servicemen to avoid punishment and receive bonuses in the future. An officer of the psychological support department of personnel Ostafiychuk told the UP that to avoid protocols it was necessary to pay from 5 to 20 thousand hryvnias.

Ostafiychuk also added that Vladyslav Pastukh, the son of the chief of staff and godson of the brigade commander, threatened the soldiers with transfer to the infantry in order to extort money from them. In addition, Pastukh Jr. was involved in regular bullying of the military.

Former officers and brigade commanders noted that Vladyslav Pastukh extorted money and abused servicemen during trips to build fortifications in Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions. To support their words, anonymous interlocutors provided photos, videos, reports, and statements from victims.

In one of the statements, the injured soldier said that during his rotation to the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions, he was punished financially and physically by Pastukh Jr. for drinking alcohol. In addition, the soldier was tied to a wooden cross and physically abused.

After the high-profile story, criminal proceedings have been initiated. The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating possible facts of extra-statutory relations between officials of the unit.

On December 16, the Ternopil Specialized Prosecutor's Office in the Field of Defense opened criminal proceedings on the fact of the use of non-statutory measures of influence against subordinates (Part 5, Article 426-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) by the command of the 211th Pontoon-Bridge Brigade. The investigation has been entrusted to the State Bureau of Investigation

It is said that the bureau's specialists will examine materials collected during official inspections of the brigade by the Main Inspectorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. They will also study reports in the media and social networks about the bullying of soldiers.

In addition, it is said that the National Police is conducting an investigation into the brigade's leadership for involving subordinates in the construction of their house in the Khmelnytskyi region, instead of their service in the combat zone. Today, he was informed of suspicion of abuse of office with grave consequences (Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The Prosecutor General's Office clarified that this is the commander of the brigade mentioned in the journalists' investigation, that is, Oleh Poberezhnyuk.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that, by decision of Commander-in-Chief Syrsky, a commission was sent to the military unit to investigate allegations of bullying. The commander of the military unit was suspended from duty for the duration of the investigation. The General Staff noted that earlier, an official investigation had already been conducted and criminal proceedings had been initiated on certain facts indicated in the investigation.

Earlier, law enforcement officers uncovered a large-scale scam involving the purchase of military uniforms . Suspicions were raised against a former advisor to the Ministry of Defense, a former People's Deputy, and his son.

In addition, counterintelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine, together with NABU detectives, exposed a large-scale corruption scheme in the Armed Forces of Ukraine . Two officials of the Logistics Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are suspected of abuse of office during the procurement of aircraft spare parts.