Facing growing public pressure to address concerns about the military leadership on the frontline, as Ukrainian forces lose ground daily to Russian attacks, Ukraine said it had arrested three former commanders it blamed for the loss of the territory last spring.
Ukraine’s security service said late Monday that the three former commanders – two generals and a colonel – were accused of failing to protect the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine. advance of Russian forces last year.
The security service, known as the SBU, did not name the detainees, giving only their ranks and the units they command at the time.
The former commanders are accused of failing to build adequate fortifications or properly equip defensive positions, along with other mistakes that “led to the capture of part of the territory of the eastern region of Ukraine, where a fierce struggle is currently underway,” security. service he said in a statement.
The arrests come amid growing public pressure for action against commanders seen as incompetent or neglectful as desertions rise in Ukraine’s military. Soldiers who leave their units without permission often cite disagreement with their commanders as their main reason for doing so.
The colonel was also responsible for 12 soldiers in his battalion who left their positions, a statement said. Separately, the commander of another brigade, the 155th, was arrested and charged with actions that led to a large number of members of his brigade going without permission at the time when the army of Ukraine many people are missing.
Ukraine has also targeted corruption in the military amid widespread accounts of bribery by military officials — particularly medical commissioners which can issue draft exemptions.
On Tuesday, the SBU announced that the country’s military psychiatrist had been arrested, saying he had amassed more than $1 million since the start of the large-scale invasion of Russia, acquiring several properties and four BMWs.
The crimes for which the commanders were charged can carry a prison sentence of up to 10 years. The SBU said it would seek to place those arrested in pre-trial detention as a preventive measure.
The soldiers of the 125th brigade, which was involved in the defense of the Kharkiv region at the time, said that their former commander was one of those arrested, and they reacted angrily.
“We are defending a vast border band, we fought to the death in the first hours of the attack. We were short of people, ammunition and support, but we fought, we fought under the leadership of our commander! they wrote about the brigade Facebook page.
Natalia Novosolova contributed report.
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2025-01-21 19:54:00
