They are suspected of official negligence, which allowed the aggressor country, Russia, to capture part of the territory in the northern region and reach Volchansk. The detention of the former commander of the operational-tactical group "Kharkiv," Brigadier General Yuri Halushkin, and the former commander of the 125th Territorial Defense Brigade, Lieutenant General Arthur Horbenko, was announced this morning by the editor-in-chief of "Censor.NET," Yuri Butusov.
"The former commanders of the OTG 'Kharkiv,' the 125th separate territorial defense brigade, and the 415th separate rifle battalion of the 23rd separate mechanized brigade, through their negligent attitude towards military service, allowed the Russian troops to seize part of the territory of the Lipetsk rural territorial community in the Kharkiv district. Their actions also led to the loss of personnel and weapons, disrupted the defense measures along the state border in their area of responsibility," the official statement from the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) reads.
The investigation believes that the former brigadier general assigned positions to the 125th OBAT that "did not correspond to its combat capabilities" and failed to reinforce them with other subordinate units. He was unaware of the directions of the enemy's main strikes, did not make necessary maneuvers in time, and did not request support from aviation and artillery, the DBR noted.
"The former commander of the 125th separate territorial defense brigade... also underestimated the enemy's capabilities to resume an offensive in the brigade's defense area, inadequately responded to the enemy's increase in combat potential and threats. Specifically, he did not ensure the arrangement of combat security positions, did not take measures to staff the brigade, set overly ambitious combat tasks for the battalions, and, without conducting operational-tactical calculations, failed to organize the proper equipment of strongholds, engineering barriers, and so on," the security officials stated.
Furthermore, the DBR suggests that the former brigade commander, aware of the impending offensive by the occupiers, did not carry out the necessary mobilization of personnel at the positions, did not utilize reserves, and was unaware of the actual situation on the battlefield.
The former commander of the 415th battalion of the 23rd OMBr is also suspected of failing to order engagement with the attacking Russians in the settlements of Strelecha, Krasne, Liptsy, and Slobozhanske, and prior to that, not conducting the necessary preparations for defensive lines and fortifications.
"During the defense against the enemy's offensive, he did not report the results of the defensive battle to the senior commander, did not take measures to stop the unauthorized withdrawal of 12 servicemen from the battalion, and issued a combat order independently in the absence of an order from the senior commander. Additionally, the former battalion commander ignored and did not execute the brigade commander's order to restore lost positions," the bureau informs, asserting that this allowed the Russian army to advance 10 km into the region along Ukraine's state border.
The DBR announced that the suspects will be transported from the places of detention to Kyiv, where they will be informed of the suspicion of negligent conduct by a military official in the line of duty, committed under martial law, which resulted in severe consequences (Part 4 of Article 425 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The former commander of the 415th battalion will also face suspicion under Article 429 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine for the unauthorized abandonment of the battlefield.
The investigation will request the court to take the suspects into custody, the bureau's press service concludes.