In Ukraine, the case against soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces brigade who deserted to Russia in 2014 was closed
On May 25, the military prosecutor's office of the Lutsk garrison closed criminal proceedings against 438 soldiers of the former 51 separate mechanized brigade regarding their possible unauthorized abandonment of a military unit (under Article 407 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
This was reported on the website of the military prosecutor's office.
“During the course of numerous investigative actions, the fact that these persons committed this criminal offense was not confirmed,” the statement says.
The investigation lasted several years.
“A number of military personnel, given the difficult moral and psychological situation after returning from the front, left the military unit with the permission of their immediate junior commanders, but without documenting their leave. A number of soldiers independently applied for and underwent treatment in healthcare institutions, about which there was no information in the military unit, and were subsequently declared unfit for military service. The investigation also established that some of the defenders were mistakenly presented as being in SOCH (unauthorized abandonment of the unit),” the prosecutor’s office said.
Now, as part of a separate criminal proceeding, the circumstances regarding possible negligence in the actions of the command of the former 51st Mechanized Brigade regarding keeping records of the presence and movement of brigade personnel are being investigated.
“It was their actions that led to the criminal prosecution of a number of military personnel,” the prosecutor’s office concluded.
As reported, at the end of July 51, servicemen of the 2014st Mechanized Infantry Brigade were forced to escape from shelling across the border with Russia in order to save their lives, but subsequently returned back. They tried to prove the fact of desertion of these military personnel, that is, a war crime provided for in Article 408 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, for many years.
On December 1, 2014, the 51st separate mechanized brigade from Vladimir-Volynsky officially ceased to exist.
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