In Ternopil, law enforcement officers detained a group of servicemen suspected of committing violent and property crimes. According to data of the National Police, the suspects in the region illegally deprived people of their liberty, used physical violence, tortured them, extorted money, and took away property.
The group of servicemen who tortured and robbed people in the Ternopil region probably belongs to the Third Assault Brigade. This was reported by local public activist Roman Dovbenko. He noted that the soldiers of this brigade were involved in mobilization activities in the Ternopil region, but some of them began to act illegally.
“As many already know, representatives of the Third Assault Brigade have been in the Ternopil region for about a month. It cannot be said that dishonest guys serve in this brigade. I personally know many very decent guys who do the right thing during the war. But many of those who are now in the region have started to do very wrong things. They began to “wander” and engage in outright lawlessness, the activist said.
The attackers took the victims out of the city, beat them, and forced them to hand over money or valuables. It was especially cynical that the attackers mocked wounded soldiers who were undergoing rehabilitation. For example, they took a KIA car from a 27-year-old resident of Ternopil and used it for their own purposes. The vehicle was later found in the Kyiv region.
In one case, the attackers grabbed an active-duty soldier who was undergoing treatment on the street, forcibly put him in a minibus, took him to an unknown destination, beat him, threatened him with a weapon, and demanded 50,000 hryvnias for his release.
They used tear gas to force another local resident into a minibus, taken out of town, stripped naked, doused with flammable liquid and forced to run in front of a car. Then he was beaten and held for three days in inhumane conditions. So far, seven suspects have been charged.
