The OGP announced an investigation into the officials of the 211th brigade, the commander was informed of the suspicion

The Prosecutor General’s Office reports on the initiation of criminal proceedings on the facts of illegal actions of the commanders of the 211th pontoon-bridge brigade of the Support Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to the report, on December 16, the Ternopil Specialized Prosecutor’s Office in the field of defense began a pre-trial investigation into the officials of the brigade “on the fact that a military official exceeded his authority or official powers.”

“The criminal proceedings investigate the possible illegal actions of the brigade officers, which consisted in the use of physical violence against subordinates under martial law, extortion of funds and excess of disciplinary authority. The materials collected during official inspections of the brigade by the Main Inspectorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, messages in the media and social networks, etc., are being studied,” the OGP said.

In addition, as noted by the prosecutor’s office, the commander of the mentioned brigade was informed on December 17 about the suspicion of abuse of official position.

“It was established that in the fall of 2023, he involved four subordinates in the construction of his house in the Khmelnytsky region, instead of their service in combat zones. The soldiers were officially included in the order of business trip to the Mykolaiv Oblast, where they allegedly performed their duties, but in reality they were not there. At the same time, they received a salary and combat payments in the total amount of almost one million hryvnias,” the report says.

The OGP stated that law enforcement officers conducted authorized searches in the military unit, at the residence of the commander, servicemen and at the construction site, seized documentation and other material evidence.

Earlier, the publication “Ukrainian Pravda” published information about alleged “bullying of military personnel, extortion of money and nepotism” in the 211th pontoon-bridge brigade of the Support Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The General Staff reported that by the decision of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrsky, a commission of the Military Law and Order Service of the Armed Forces was sent to the military unit to verify information published in the media.

Defense Minister Rustem Umyerov also announced that the Ministry of Defense inspection will check the facts stated in the article.

“Prolonging investigations, family contracts, extortions, abuse of servicemen is unacceptable in the 3rd year of the war,” Umyerov said and promised to find out why the investigation by the Military Law and Order Service took so long.