The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) changed the suspicion to an officer from the Office of Assistants to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who presented grenades to Valerii Zaluzhnyiʼs aide, Major Hennadii Chastyakov.
According to Babel sources, it is Oleh Tymchenko. Initially, he was suspected of acquiring, storing and selling explosive devices without a permit, for which he faces up to 7 years in prison. However, the suspect was changed — now the officer is suspected of theft, misappropriation and sale of ammunition, murder and causing grievous bodily harm due to carelessness. The maximum sanction of the articles provides up to 15 years of imprisonment.
According to the investigation, the officer gave Chastyakov a "gift" with grenades in honor of his birthday. At the same time, he did not warn his colleague about the authenticity of the grenades and did not make sure that he and others present in the office understood that he was giving explosive devices.
While unwrapping the gift at home, one of the grenades exploded in Chastyakovʼs hands — he was sure that these were souvenir glasses. Chastyakov died on the spot from his injuries, and his minor son was seriously injured.
After the defense and the victims have familiarized themselves with the materials of the pre-trial investigation, the case will be referred to the court.
What happened?
On November 6, 2023, Major Hennadiy Chastyakov, assistant to the former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi, died in the village of Chayki, the Kyiv region. He died on his birthday in the family circle — one of the gifts contained grenades. Chastyakov is survived by his wife and four children.
The Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko said that Chastyakov brought home a gift box with grenades and began to show one of them to his son. These were grenades of the new Western model. The majorʼs son took the ammunition in his hands and began to spin the ring. Then Chastyakov took the grenade from the child and pulled out the ring. There was an explosion. Five more such unexploded grenades were found in the apartment. The main version of the death is an accident.