Murders of military personnel in the rear is a red line that must not be crossed. This was stated by the Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mikhail Drapaty.
"We cannot remain silent while witnessing the growing wave of disdain towards the defenders of Ukraine - this is beyond what can be tolerated. Nothing happens suddenly. We have already seen instances of humiliation and aggression against our defenders, but I have not observed a strong societal reaction to this. Now we are facing direct armed attacks. This is how the enemy operates. They work among us and between us while we are preoccupied with who liked what," he emphasized.
According to Drapaty, there are no justifications for the murder of a serviceman and the attack on the TCC.
He stressed that a swift and harsh response from the authorities is the only possible course of action in situations of lawlessness against military personnel.
"Without just punishment for the murderers, envious individuals, and traitors, we will see even more of our comrades killed in the rear. In other cities. In different neighborhoods. At gas stations, in supermarkets, in stairwells, on the streets named after Heroes. If society tolerates these attacks, bad symptoms will become a diagnosis. I want to believe that at this point, it is impossible. Because the only thing that separates us from the enemy is the Defense Forces of Ukraine, the Armed Forces. While we are losing our best people at the front, we must not lose our conscience in the rear. Disregard for a person in a pixel begins where dignity ends. We are obliged to respect those who have taken up arms and are defending our cities, the people within them, our borders, skies, land, our state, our flag, our home at the cost of their own lives," the commander noted.
Murder of a Serviceman at the TCC
As reported by UNIAN, on February 1 in the city of Pyriatyn, Poltava region, during the escort of military conscripts to a training center, an unknown man shot a serviceman of the regional TCC with a hunting rifle and fled with one of the mobilized individuals.
An unknown man in a gray balaclava and pixelated pants approached the serviceman of the Poltava RTC and SP, threatening him with a hunting rifle and demanding that he hand over his weapon. After receiving a refusal, the assailant shot the serviceman. As a result of the severe injury, the soldier died on the spot. After the attack, the perpetrator seized the serviceman's automatic weapon and escaped with one of the mobilized conscripts.
Later, it became known that the Poltava police detained the man who shot the serviceman.