The State Bureau of Investigation reported suspicion of abuse of authority and misappropriation of weapons against the deputy commander of the 110th separate mechanized brigade, who created schemes to extort money from soldiers who evaded service.
This was reported by the press service of the Ukraineʼs State Bureau of Investigation.
According to the investigation, since January 2024, the deputy commander organized a scheme to receive money from soldiers who did not want to serve. For half the salary, such men could not show up for service. Some of them were issued combat payments from time to time.
Investigators know of at least four people who regularly used this scheme. The stateʼs losses due to payments to these four alone are over 2.2 million hryvnias. However, the real number of participants in the scheme could be in the dozens.
The deputy commanderʼs crime was exposed by his subordinate — he took a bag with 1.5 million hryvnias from the suspect and handed it over to law enforcement officers. Then the suspect tried to blackmail the subordinate and submitted documents stating that he had allegedly left the military unit without permission with weapons.
The SBI conducted searches at the residence of the suspect and his family and found there an automatic rifle that was mentioned in the case against the subordinate. Law enforcement officers also found money in various currencies totaling over 5 million hryvnias. The investigation is also investigating the deputy commanderʼs involvement in the theft of food and other property in the brigade.
The suspect faces up to 15 years in prison. He is being held without bail.