The Pechersky District Court of Kyiv has remanded in custody the former commander of the 125th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade, Lieutenant General Artur Gorbenko. He is suspected of improper defense of the Kharkiv region.
"Suspilne" writes about this.
Horbenko was sentenced to two months in custody with the right to bail in the amount of 25 million hryvnias.
The investigation claims that Gorbenkoʼs actions allowed Russian troops to seize part of the territory of the Lyptsi rural territorial community of the Kharkiv region in May 2024. His actions also led to losses among Ukrainian military personnel and weapons and disrupted the defense of the Ukrainian border in his area of responsibility.
According to the investigation, the suspected general underestimated the Russiansʼ ability to resume the offensive in the brigadeʼs defense area and did not react to the enemyʼs build-up of combat potential and threats.
Gorbenko himself has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, Stanislav Peliuk, says he will appeal the courtʼs decision.
What preceded this
On January 20, law enforcement officers detained three military personnel suspected of negligence in organizing the defense of the Kharkiv region in 2024. We are talking about:
- former commander of the Operational-Tactical Group "Kharkiv", General Yuriy Galushkin;
- former commander of the 125th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade, General Artur Gorbenko;
- former commander of the 415th separate rifle battalion of the 23rd separate mechanized brigade, Colonel Ilya Lapin.
On January 21, the court sent Galushkin and Lapin into custody. And on January 22, bail of 5 million hryvnias was posted for Galushkin.