General Serhiy Kryvonos reported that a criminal case was initiated against him because of the defense of the Kyiv airport and they did so at the behest of President Volodymyr Zelensky. At the same time, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) reported that they are currently studying the facts of property theft.
Kryvonos told about this in a comment to journalist Yury Butusov, who published the generalʼs words on his Facebook.
"Yes, indeed, on August 2, a criminal case was initiated against me by the State Security Bureau. The SBI investigators were instructed to recognize as illegal the order personally signed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny, appointing me as the defense commander of Kyiv airport and enlisting me in military service. Thatʼs why a case was opened that I allegedly issued illegal orders during the organization of the defense of Kyiv airport in February-March," he noted.
Kryvonos also handed over his enlistment and discharge documents. He is certain that they did it on the instructions of Zelensky because the general criticizes his actions.
At the same time, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) reported that they are investigating the theft of airport property during its defense. They also establish the expediency of damage to the airport runway.
"Within the scope of the investigation of the criminal proceedings initiated under Part 5 of Art. 426-1 (exceeding authority or official powers by a military official) information is checked on the validity of orders to the military to seize airport vehicles and other property. The legality of the order to damage the runways of the airport, which was not determined by military necessity, is also being investigated," they stated.
In addition, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that General Kryvonos was indeed involved in the defense of Kyiv airport, but he was not returned to military service.
"The documents provided in the publication are not grounds for enrollment in military service, including during mobilization. Accordingly, no instructions were received from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine regarding his dismissal from military service," they note there.
The General Staff said that during the stabilization of the situation around Kyiv, the airport was guarded by units of the Territorial Defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"All decisions regarding the use of forces and means are documented in the established order, therefore the information with limited access covered in the publication requires a separate reaction of law enforcement agencies," the General Staff emphasized.
- We will remind you that in December 2020, Kryvonos criticized Volodymyr Zelenskyʼs idea of mass mobilization of women and men in the event of a new Russian attack from Crimea. He noted that the majority of Ukrainians are not ideologically ready for this and are not trained accordingly.
- After that, Zelensky dismissed Serhiy Kryvonos from the post of Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council. At the time, the Presidentʼs Office reported that Oleksiy Danilov, the Secretary of the National Security Council, submitted a motion to dismiss Kryvonos "a few months ago."