“Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation, in cooperation with the Security Service of Ukraine, detained former commanders: two generals and a colonel, who are suspected of negligence, due to which the enemy was able to capture part of the territory of Kharkiv region in May 2024.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: SBI, SBU, UP interlocutors in law enforcement agencies
Literally Bureau: “The former commanders of the operational-tactical group “Kharkiv”, the 125th separate territorial defense brigade and the 415th separate rifle battalion of the 23rd separate mechanized brigade, with their negligent attitude to military service, allowed the troops of the Russian Federation to capture part of the territory of the Lipetsk rural territorial community of Kharkiv district
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Also, the actions of the commanders led to the loss of personnel and weapons, disrupted measures for the defense of the state border in their area of responsibility.”
Details: According to UP sources, it is about a brigadier general Yuriy Galushkina, lieutenant general Arthur Horbenka and the colonel Ilya Lapin.
As noted in the SBI report, the investigation established that Brigadier General (Galushkin – editor) defined defense positions for the 125th TrO brigade that did not correspond to its combat capabilities, besides, he had other units that could strengthen these positions. Also, the commander made a number of other mistakes, including not fully clarifying the direction of the enemy’s main attacks, insufficiently controlling the organization of preparation and conduct of defensive operations. He did not conduct a timely maneuver of the forces and means of the group, did not organize the support of the brigade units with artillery and air forces.
According to the investigation, the former commander of the 125th separate ground defense brigade, Lieutenant General (Gorbenko – editor), also underestimated the enemy’s ability to resume the offensive in the area of the brigade’s defense, and reacted inadequately to the enemy’s increase in combat potential and threats. In particular, he did not provide for the arrangement of combat guard positions, did not take measures to staff the brigade, defined overstated combat tasks for the battalions and, without conducting operational-tactical calculations, did not organize the proper equipment of strongholds, engineering barriers, etc.
In addition, the former brigadier general, having information about the preparation of the enemy’s offensive actions, did not convey it to his subordinates, did not ensure the maximum mobilization and presence of all personnel of the brigade, including officers at their positions. Already during the battle, he did not organize proper fire support of the brigade’s units with artillery; did not ensure effective use of the brigade’s reserves, interaction of the brigade with other units and did not know the actual situation on the battlefield.
The former commander of the 415th battalion of the 23rd OMBr (Colonel Lapin – ed.) in his turn did not organize a defensive battle in the settlements of Strelcha, Krasne, Lypka and Slobozhanske, which were located in the battalion’s line of defense, did not determine which objects to include in the strongholds and how to prepare them for defense, methods of countering the enemy’s underground mine warfare, places of storage and warehouse equipment.
As noted in the SDF, during the repulse of the enemy’s offensive, the officer did not report to the senior commander about the results of the defensive battle, did not take measures to stop the spontaneous departure of 12 soldiers of the battalion, and gave a single combat order in the absence of an order from the senior commander. The former combatant also ignored and did not comply with the brigade commander’s order to restore lost positions.
Due to these violations, the enemy, developing success, took over the positions of the units of the first and second echelon of the battalions, which led to the loss of personnel, the penetration of the enemy into the defense zone at a distance of up to 10 km in depth, and the loss of control over part of the territory along the state border of Ukraine.
The SBU adds that the specialized examinations initiated by the law enforcement officers confirmed the facts of criminal activity of the persons involved.
After the detainees are delivered to Kyiv, those involved will be informed of the suspicion of a military official’s careless attitude to service, committed under martial law conditions, which caused grave consequences (Part 4 of Article 425 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The former commander of the 415th OSB will be additionally notified of the suspicion of voluntarily leaving the battlefield (Article 429 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The law enforcement officers also plan to apply to the court for the arrest of the suspects.
Read also: Excombrigadier of the 125th TRO Horbenko: In Kharkiv Oblast, they did everything possible. But it is impossible to hold the front when you have 6-8 people per kilometer