On the evening of December 28, employees of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) conducted a search at the residence of Colonel Oleh Poberezhniuk, commander of the 211th pontoon-bridge brigade of the Armed Forces Support Forces. The investigative actions are related to the investigation of several cases that caused a significant response in society and law enforcement agencies. About this reported interlocutor of “Ukrainian Pravda” in law enforcement agencies.
According to the investigation data, in the period from February to July 2024, the brigade commander was aware of the facts of ill-treatment, torture and illegal influence measures carried out by one of his subordinates, officer Vladyslav Pastukh, on other servicemen. However, according to the SBI, Poberezhniuk did not take any measures to stop these actions and did not initiate the prosecution of the officer.
In this regard, a notice of suspicion is being prepared for the brigade commander under Part 4 of Article 426 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which concerns the inaction of the military authorities committed under martial law. This article provides severe punishment for failure to fulfill the duties of command, which leads to serious consequences.
We remind you that this is not the first incident related to Colonel Poberezhnyuk. Earlier, the police of the Ternopil region informed him of the suspicion of abuse of official position. The investigation established that the commander involved subordinate servicemen in the construction of his own house in Khmelnytskyi instead of their participation in hostilities. In this proceeding, the court decided to arrest Poberezhnyuk with the possibility of posting bail. On December 20, the colonel was released after paying a bail of 908,400 hryvnias.
At the same time, the SBI is investigating other alleged violations in the 211th pontoon-bridge brigade, including the use of non-statutory measures of influence, violence and abuse of subordinates. There are also possible cases of nepotism, extortion of funds and abuse of official position among the commanding staff of the brigade.
The scandals surrounding the 211th pontoon-bridge brigade caused a wide public discussion about problems in military structures, in particular, regarding corruption, abuse of power and observance of the rights of servicemen. The cases against Poberezhniuk became an example of how law enforcement agencies try to ensure the responsibility of commanders for violations under martial law.
The investigation is ongoing, and its results may have an important impact on reforming approaches to the management of military units in Ukraine.
