SBU suspects the Russian general of preparing the capture of Kharkiv

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) declared the Russian Lieutenant General Konstantin Stepanishchev about the suspicion in absentia. He was preparing a "blitzkrieg" plan to capture Kharkiv in 5 days.

This was reported by the SBU press service.

Stepanishchev — Deputy Commander of the 6th Combined Arms Army of the Western Military District. He designed and tried to implement an operation to capture Kharkiv by the end of February 2022.

Stepanishchevʼs plan stipulated that the units of the ground forces subordinate to him should surround the city and take it in a "ring" in five days. For this purpose, the assault groups of the Russian army were covered by Russian fighters, and “Iskander” ballistic missiles attacked the civilian infrastructure of the city.

In the event of the capture of the city, Stepanishchev planned to take all administrative and strategic objects of Kharkiv under Russian control and begin isolation and filtering measures against the local population.

Russian military intelligence operatives wanted to infiltrate Kharkiv in order to capture the local administration and raise the Russian flag there.

The investigation established that the Russian general had been participating in hostilities against Ukraine in the Luhansk region since 2014. At that time, he commanded the 4th separate motorized rifle brigade of the Russian Armed Forces. Later he received the rank of general and the star "Hero of Russia". Subsequently, he was ordered to prepare a full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine.

He is incriminated by articles that provide for responsibility for waging an aggressive war committed by a group of persons based on a prior conspiracy. He faces up to 15 years in prison.