Air defense commander to be tried in Mykolaiv

The Special Prosecutor's Office of Mykolaiv region has brought to court the case against the former commander of an anti-aircraft missile and artillery division of a Crimean military unit. The military man will be tried for high treason and desertion.

This was reported by the Specialized Defense Prosecutor's Office of the Southern Region.

According to the investigation, in March 2014, during the temporary occupation of the territory of Crimea, the lieutenant colonel, in order to avoid military service forever, did not leave for the new location of the military unit determined by the command. He continued to evade and conceal his affiliation with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Subsequently, the former officer openly refused to perform military service in the AFU and agreed to serve in the armed forces of the Russian Federation. The enemy appointed him to the position of chief of air defense - head of a department.

He is now actively involved in Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine.

The special prosecutor's office added that due to the suspect's hiding in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, the pre-trial investigation of the criminal proceedings in the order of a special pre-trial investigation (in absentia) was carried out by investigators of the State Bureau of Investigation in Mykolaiv.

Recently, a resident of Mykolaiv was accused of interfering with video surveillance systems. His actions resulted in a propaganda story on a Russian channel.

SBU CI also detained an informant of Russian military intelligence. The agent was collecting coordinates for new missile and drone strikes on the city. The aggressor tried to bypass the air defense systems, so the enemy's attention was focused on the enterprises of the defense industry of Ukraine.

In August, the SBU detained an informant who was adjusting the aggressor country's air strikes in Mykolaiv region. It was a 53-year-old construction worker who was in touch with blogger and FSB agent Sergei Lebedev. Through him, the adjuster received instructions on reconnaissance of Ukrainian troops' locations.

In July, SBU officers detained the offender while he was trying to transfer coordinates and photos of a military facility.

A resident of Yuzhnoukrainsk was sentenced to 8 years in prison for passing on intelligence about the defense of the South Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant. A cell phone with evidence of criminal activity was seized from the detainee.

Ірина Глухова