The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alexander Syrsky, sent an inspection to the 211 pontoon-bridge brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, where the leadership abused the soldiers.
The commander of the military unit was suspended from duty.
The General Staff added that, based on certain facts, an inspection was already carried out in the brigade in September and, based on its results, criminal proceedings were initiated.
In particular, UP journalists found out that the brigade leadership demanded money from the fighters, beat them, and threatened to throw them “for meat.” One of the soldiers said that he was tied to a wooden cross and physically abused.
So far no one has been punished. The culprits were promoted, and those who caused problems were sent to the infantry, the article said.
The brigade commander is Colonel Oleg Poberezhnyuk, and his godson was the commander of one of the platoons in the first battalion of the brigade. It was he who physically abused the brigade fighters and demanded money from them, including for failure to draw up protocols for drinking alcohol during service.
In addition, he set up a so-called “cage” where they threw naked military men to further extort money for dismissal.
The brigade commander also sent some soldiers to Khmelnitskaya to build their own house. According to the publication, no one has yet been punished for bullying and sending military personnel on missions other than their intended purpose.
Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets sent letters to the General Staff and the Military Law Enforcement Service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to conduct an investigation into possible cases of abuse of military personnel in the 211th Pontoon-Bridge Brigade. He added that he took the matter under personal control.
Background
In order not to have a report drawn up against you, you had to pay from 5 to 20 thousand UAH to the person who discovered the violations,” says Ostafiychuk, an officer in the department of psychological support for personnel, who then served in the 211th brigade and was involved in internal audits. “I also established many illegal facts, in particular, beatings of military personnel if they drank alcohol but did not pay money.
Most of the abuse of the soldiers was carried out by the son of the chief of staff Pastukh and the godson of the brigade commander Poberezhnyuk – at that time a senior lieutenant, and now a captain, Vladislav Pastukh, commander of one of the platoons in the first battalion. “He threatened that his father was the chief of staff, and his godfather was the brigade commander, who could transfer the military to the infantry, where they would immediately be thrown into the meat. Thanks to these threats, he managed to demand money from the guys,” adds the interlocutor of the UP among the sergeants.
The interlocutors of the UP provided photos and videos taken by Shepherd, as well as explanations, reports and statements from the victims. Verbatim:
I, …, handed over the money to the soldier Hoopoe to be transferred to Mr. Gray so that I would not be taken to confession. The money was transferred to a bank card and transferred in cash. And also Shepherd V.V. organized a so-called “cage”, where they threw undressed military personnel (including me) in order to further extort money for dismissal from the “cage”.
One of the statements from the injured soldier noted:
I, …, while on rotation in the Dnepropetrovsk and Donetsk regions, drank alcoholic beverages, for which I was repeatedly punished under Art. Lieutenant Pastukh Vladislav Valerievich financially and physically using brute physical force against me, they also tied me to a wooden cross and physically abused me…
After this story, which caused a great resonance within the brigade, Shepherd Jr. was transferred to another unit.
UP interlocutors among officers and sergeants claim that criminal proceedings due to abuse of military personnel were not opened by either the prosecutor’s office or the DBI.
Source: Racurs
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.