A platoon commander from Crimea defected to the enemy and may be imprisoned for treason

A former Ukrainian military officer from Crimea was informed about his impressions in the state council and desertion. In 2014, he refused to allow the Russians to capture his unit, went over to the enemy and served in the aggressor's armed forces.

This is stated in the suspicion of the Prosecutor General's Office.

The State Bureau of Investigation has announced that former Ukrainian military officer Oleksiy Honcharov, a native of Yalta and captain of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who refused to leave the occupied Crimea in 2014 and voluntarily joined the enemy's armed forces, is charged with treason and desertion.

At the time of the annexation of Crimea, Goncharov served in the military unit A2320 (Perevalne village, Simferopol district) as a logistics platoon commander. In March 2014, after the unit was seized by the Russian armed forces, the Ukrainian team announced the relocation of personnel to the mainland.

However, according to the investigation, Goncharov ignored the order, did not report to his new duty station, and deliberately remained in the temporarily occupied Crimea. Later, he signed a contract with the Russian army and joined the military unit No. 12676, which is based at the same address as the former Ukrainian unit.

Investigators found that Goncharov did not inform the Ukrainian military leadership of his whereabouts, did not return to service in the Armed Forces and instead served in the Russian army, holding other positions in the occupation forces.

He is charged with two criminal offenses at once:

• high treason - defection to the enemy in an armed conflict (part 1 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
• desertion - intentional evasion from service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (part 1 of Article 408 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The maximum sentence under these articles is up to 15 years in prison. The suspect is currently hiding in the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea. The SBI is taking measures to establish his exact location and bring him to justice.

In March, four former servicemen of the Ukrainian Navy, who served in military units stationed in Crimea, were notified of being charged with treason and desertion. During the full-scale war, they fought on the side of Russia, in particular, participated in hostilities against civilians and infrastructure.

Анна Літман