The SBI said that they are establishing the conditions of the Russian invaders who are violating the border in the Kharkov region.
The Russian offensive in the Kharkov region has been the subject of investigation. SBI officials established the minute-by-minute development of events, and in total the names of 28 servicemen appear in the case (commander of the operational-tactical group, brigade commander, battalion commander, company commander, head of intelligence department of the headquarters). The case could be the most high-profile investigation against Ukraine’s military leadership since the all-out invasion.
Checking readiness
“Due to the resonance of the proceedings, the best investigators and the leadership of the Main Investigation Department of the State Bureau of Investigation are involved in the investigation, and there is close cooperation with the operational units of the SBU. And also – full communication and support from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, OTG Kharkov and OSGV Khortytsia,” the message said.
As part of the investigation, law enforcement officials are examining the level of support and staffing of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the construction of fortifications, communication between military units, etc. They also analyze the actions of the leadership of all levels in the region during the offensive actions of the enemy, before and after them, and investigate the possible facts of the unfounded withdrawal from the combat positions of units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The preliminary qualification of criminal proceedings is unauthorized abandonment of the field and negligent attitude to military service (Article 429, Part 4 of Article 425 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
Occupation in the villages
According to the analytical resource DeepState, on May 27, 10 border settlements were occupied due to the offensive in the Kharkiv region: Strelka, Krasnoe, Pylnaya, Borisovka, Morokhovets, Oleynikovo, Glubokoe, Lukyantsy, Pletenevka, Ogurtsovoye Gatishche. The village of Bugrovatka and the city of Volchansk were partially captured.
According to the investigation, the command of the 125th brigade and its subordinate units, including the 415th separate rifle battalion, 23 mechanized brigade, 172 separate riflemen, allegedly did not properly organize the defense of positions on the border of the Kharkov region and Russian . Federation, which led to the loss of military equipment and personal composition of the unit.
In the 125th separate territorial defense brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, they said in response that they were ready for the offensive and no one retreated from their positions.
“Whether from ignorance of the situation, or from a desire to cause harm, individual residents of social networks spread completely false information about the unpreparedness of the Defense Forces for an enemy offensive, or more even worse, about the retreat of individual units from the defense lines entrusted to them,” said the commander of the 125th brigade, Lieutenant General Arthur Gorbenko.
At the time of the Russian attack, the brigade commander assured that the situation in the defense zone of his brigade was complicated, but controllable.
The settlements where the enemy entered are located in a permanent “gray zone,” and therefore the victory of the enemy is quite conditional and causes him great losses in equipment and manpower,” added Gorbenko.
The danger of investigation
The Secretary of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence Roman Kostenko said that for the first time during the mass raid, the public was notified about such a large-scale investigation.
“When such information is spread, especially by the media, many people automatically have a stigma in their heads that the military is to blame. If an investigation is conducted, they are to blame for the loss of territories. Is it necessary to do this? In my opinion, in public – no, it can also look like discredit.
And now many military personnel carrying out their tasks understand that the machine is now starting to work against them. This is quite a serious story. Perhaps they are to blame, but this should be an investigation, which should be objective, about which there should not be much publicity. If there are perpetrators there, these perpetrators must be held accountable,” Kostenko describes the dangers.
The representative of the people believes that it is necessary to know what forces and means the 125th brigade has at its disposal. According to him, “a battalion that should have held five kilometers, for example, held 15 kilometers.”
“There are many questions, they don’t have artillery… There are questions about mining the territory with anti-personnel mines. Everything there is not fully mined. The question is whether there are resources. We have had no mines since we signed the anti-personnel mine ban convention, and we are destroying them all. We just don’t exist in a physical way. Question: did our partners give us enough mines so that we could sew all three thousand kilometers of the border with the Russian Federation? There must be millions of mines. If not, what will they put in there for you? And it must be fixed. And we immediately said in our statements that “the military is to blame,” stressed Kostenko.
In his opinion, commanders should be responsible for their decisions, but he was against public accusations of commanders.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.