The commander of the 211th Pontoon-Bridge Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Support Forces Oleh Poberezhnyuk was released from custody on bail on December 20.
Suspilne was informed about this in the Ternopil Specialized Prosecutorʼs Office in the Field of Defense of the Western region.
The day before, on December 19, Poberezhnyuk was given a preventive measure — detention for two months, with the right to post bail in the amount of 908 400 hryvnias. The prosecutorʼs office did not specify whether he posted it personally or someone posted it for him.
The brigade commander is suspected of abuse of office. The criminal proceedings are investigating information about bullying and extorting money from the military. According to the investigation, Poberezhnyuk also involved subordinates in the construction of his house in the Khmelnytskyi region, distracting them from their service.
What preceded
The publication "Ukrainska Pravda" published an article stating that Vladyslav Pastukh, the godson of the commander of the 211th Pontoon-Bridge Brigade Oleh Poberezhnyuk, physically abused the battalionʼs soldiers and demanded money for not drawing up reports on soldiers intoxicated.
After public outcry, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi initiated an investigation into these facts. At the same time, the commander of the military unit was suspended from duty.
The Main Inspectorate of the Ministry of Defense will also verify the facts regarding the alleged abuse of soldiers and family contracts in the 211th Pontoon-Bridge Brigade, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said.
On December 16, 2024, the Ternopil Specialized Prosecutorʼs Office in the Defense Sector launched a pre-trial investigation into the case of alleged violence by command personnel against subordinates.
The criminal proceedings are investigating possible illegal actions by the brigade officers — they allegedly physically abused the soldiers and extorted money from them.
The case will be handled by the State Bureau of Investigation. They emphasized that SBI had not previously received any materials about this situation in the 211th Pontoon-Bridge Brigade, either from official parties or from the brigadeʼs fighters.
Law enforcement officers have already conducted searches at the military unit, the residence of the commander, servicemen, and at the construction site. They seized documents and other physical evidence of illegal activities.
The General Staff reported that an official check had already been conducted in September of this year on certain facts reported by the Ukrainian Police. Based on its results, criminal proceedings were initiated. The General Staff did not specify what facts were in question, but presumably the case concerns an incident when Brigadier General Poberezhnyuk sent four soldiers to the Khmelnytskyi region to build him a house.
The brigadeʼs press service, on behalf of Brigadier General Poberezhnyuk, did not comment on the case of extortion and abuse of servicemen by Vladyslav Pastukh. They only said that his father Valerii Pastukh, who is Poberezhnyukʼs godfather and deputy, is not responsible for his sonʼs actions, since he was never directly subordinate to him.
- You can read more about the case of the 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade and what the command is accused of here.
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