A Territorial Defence lieutenant colonel who also serves as a local councillor has been detained, put under night-time house arrest and suspended from duty in a case involving an alleged $6,000 payment connected to an AWOL soldier. Those are significant procedural steps, but they do not establish guilt.
Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation, as reported by Ukrainska Pravda, alleges that the 45-year-old officer sought $6,000 in exchange for promising to influence officials in another military unit. Investigators say he offered to help a serviceman return after leaving his unit without permission and to create conditions for avoiding criminal liability. The alleged demand was initially $10,000 before it was reduced to $6,000.
The report published on 13 November gives a specific sequence. It says the serviceman received a recommendation letter and returned to service on 23 October with the suspect’s assistance. The officer was then detained on 28 October after receiving the agreed amount, according to investigators. The SBI says he serves in a regional Territorial Defence command in Rivne region and is also a councillor of the Chahor village council in Chernivtsi region.
Prosecutors said a court imposed night-time house arrest and removed him from his duties. The alleged conduct has been classified under Part 3 of Article 369-2 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code, concerning the receipt of an improper benefit for influencing an official decision.
The public interest is wider than the alleged payment itself. A military officer with elected local office should not be able to turn access to official channels into a private route around accountability, if the allegation is proved. The court restrictions show the case has moved beyond an initial report into formal coercive measures. Yet the supplied material contains no response from the officer or his defence, and only a court can determine criminal responsibility. The SBI’s report of a 2020 conviction for a similar offence is background, not evidence of guilt in this case.
Sources
- Українська правда · Source date: 2026-11-13
Independent editorial content. WUA is not affiliated with any political party. 2026-11-13