Ukrainian regulation enforcement brokers have charged a platoon commander of Ukraine's 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade with abuse of authority, accusing the person of beating and humiliating subordinates, the Prosecutor Common's Workplace reported on Dec. 26.
Though authorities didn’t identify the accused, Ukrainian media reported that the person in query was Vladyslav Pastukh.
Based on officers, the accused allegedly beat at the very least three soldier whereas serving alongside the entrance line between February and Might 2024.
In a single occasion, after discovering one other soldier intoxicated, the accused kicked the soldier within the face in addition to different components of his physique. In a separate occasion, the commander ordered subordinates to tie the sufferer to a picket cross, the place the soldier was immobilized for 4 hours.
In one other incident, the commander "beat one other soldier over a dispute over the publication of a video recording on the web about insufficient dwelling situations," the Prosecutor Common's Workplace alleged. Whereas a separate alleged assault occurred when a subordinate addressed the commander "inappropriately."
The accused has been charged with "abuse of authority by a navy official" beneath Ukraine's Legal Code, Hromadske reported, in addition to two different expenses associated to desertion. The commander faces as much as 12 years in jail, if convicted.
Pastukh was beforehand named in an investigation by Ukrainska Pravda that reported officers of 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade had overwhelmed service members, extorted cash from them, and tied one soldier to a picket cross as a punishment.
Pastukh's godfather and commander of the brigade, Colonel Oleh Poberezhniuk, was taken into custody and charged with abuse of energy on Dec. 19 for allegedly making 4 of his subordinates assist him construct his home in Khmelnytskyi Oblast within the fall of 2023.
The 211th Brigade, fashioned in August 2023, performs engineering work, builds defenses within the rear, and doesn’t take part in direct fight.
The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova