“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 Ukraineโ, โ write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“Prosecutors requested that a preventive measure be chosen for him in the form of detention with the right to deposit bail in the amount of 40 million hryvnias. Prosecutors of the General Prosecutor’s Office also filed a petition to the court to remove the suspect from official duties,” the message reads.
On December 29, employees of the State Bureau of Investigation detained and reported suspicion to the commander of the 211th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleg Poberezhnyuk, “who did not respond to the facts of abuse and torture of servicemen entrusted to him,” the department’s press service said.
The investigators found that “at least from February to July 2024, the brigade commander knew about numerous facts of torture and other inhumane treatment of soldiers by an officer subordinate to him, but did not react to it and did not initiate the issue of bringing the officer to justice.”
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 article, among other things, talked about Vladyslav Pastukh, the commander of one of the platoons in the first battalion of the brigade. According to UP sources, he demanded funds from the military and abused them during business trips to build fortifications in Donetsk region, Kharkiv region and Dnipropetrovsk region. He did not publicly comment on these statements.
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.
On December 16, the Ternopil specialized prosecutor’s office in the field of defense began a pre-trial investigation into the officials of the 211th brigade “on the fact that a military official exceeded his authority or official powers.” The case concerns the alleged use of physical violence by officers against subordinates, extortion of funds and excess of disciplinary authority.
On December 17, the commander of this brigade was informed of the suspicion of abuse of official position. On December 19, the court took him into custody with the right to deposit 908,400 hryvnias as bail. But the very next day, the commander of the 211th pontoon-bridge brigade, Oleh Poberezhnyuk, was released from custody on bail.