Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Facing Setbacks and Desertions at the Front, Ukraine Detains Commanders
d8a347b41db1ddee634e2d67d08798c102ef09ac
By The New York Times
Published 2 weeks ago on
January 21, 2025

Destroyed artillery on a road near the town of Vovchansk, in the northeastern Kharkiv region of Ukraine, on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Kyiv has been slowly losing areas it reclaimed last year as its troops are stretched thin by a new Russian offensive in the north. (Finbarr O’Reilly/The New York Times)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

KYIV, Ukraine — Facing growing public pressure to address concerns over military leadership on the front as Ukrainian forces lose ground daily to Russian attacks, Ukraine said it had detained three former commanders that it blamed for the loss of territory last spring.

Ukraine’s security service said late Monday that the three former commanders — two generals and a colonel — had been accused of failing to protect the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine from the advance of Russian forces last year.

The security service, known as the SBU, did not name those detained, giving only their ranks and the units they commanded at the time.

The former commanders are accused of failing to build adequate fortifications or to properly equip defensive positions, along with other mistakes that “led to the seizure of part of the territory of the eastern region of Ukraine, where fierce fighting is currently ongoing,” the security service said in a statement.

Public Pressure Is Growing For Action

The arrests come amid growing public pressure for action against commanders seen as incompetent or careless as desertions rise in the Ukrainian army. Soldiers who leave their units without permission often cite disagreement with their commanders as their main reason for doing so.

The colonel was also being held responsible for 12 soldiers in his battalion leaving their positions, a statement said. Separately, the commander of another brigade, the 155th, was arrested and charged with actions that led to large numbers of members of his brigade going absent without leave at a time when Ukraine’s military is badly lacking people.

Ukraine has also been targeting corruption in the military amid widespread accounts of bribetaking by military officials — particularly medical commissioners who can issue draft exemptions.

On Tuesday, the SBU announced that the country’s chief military psychiatrist had been arrested, saying that he had amassed more than $1 million since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, acquiring several properties and four BMWs.

The crimes for which the commanders have been accused can carry prison sentences of up to 10 years. The SBU said it would seek to place those arrested in pretrial detention as a preventive measure.

Soldiers from the 125th brigade, which was involved in the defense of the Kharkiv region at the time, said that their former commander was one of those arrested, and reacted angrily.

“We were defending a huge swath of the border, we fought to the death in the first hours of the attack. We were short of people, ammunition and support but we fought, we fought under the leadership of our commander!” they wrote on the brigade’s Facebook page.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Maria Varenikova/Finbarr O’Reilly
c. 2025 The New York Times Company

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Visalia Woman Sentenced to 5 Years for High-Speed Chase That Injured Officer

DON'T MISS

More Active Duty Troops Will Head to US-Mexico Border, Bringing the Total to 3,600

DON'T MISS

Police Search for Missing Fresno Man Last Seen in Bay Area

DON'T MISS

Martin, Pardoned for Jan. 6, Sent to Lompoc Prison on Gun Charge Conviction

DON'T MISS

Spring Training Preview: Dodgers Are Favored to Be MLB’s First Repeat Champion

DON'T MISS

With Immigrant Backgrounds, Vang, Leon Barraza Seek Fresno Council Seat

DON'T MISS

Justice Department Won’t Release Names of FBI Agents Who Worked on Jan. 6 Riot Cases

DON'T MISS

Aliens, Sloths and Silliness: Super Bowl Ads Offer Laughs, Celebs and Surprises to Win Over Viewers

DON'T MISS

Mother Pleads for Britain’s Help in Freeing Son From Egyptian Prison

DON'T MISS

Clean Energy Interests Shift Focus to Money and Jobs

UP NEXT

More Active Duty Troops Will Head to US-Mexico Border, Bringing the Total to 3,600

UP NEXT

Police Search for Missing Fresno Man Last Seen in Bay Area

UP NEXT

Martin, Pardoned for Jan. 6, Sent to Lompoc Prison on Gun Charge Conviction

UP NEXT

Spring Training Preview: Dodgers Are Favored to Be MLB’s First Repeat Champion

UP NEXT

With Immigrant Backgrounds, Vang, Leon Barraza Seek Fresno Council Seat

UP NEXT

Justice Department Won’t Release Names of FBI Agents Who Worked on Jan. 6 Riot Cases

UP NEXT

Aliens, Sloths and Silliness: Super Bowl Ads Offer Laughs, Celebs and Surprises to Win Over Viewers

UP NEXT

Mother Pleads for Britain’s Help in Freeing Son From Egyptian Prison

UP NEXT

Clean Energy Interests Shift Focus to Money and Jobs

UP NEXT

Russia Claims Capture of Eastern Ukraine Town; Kyiv Officials Silent

Martin, Pardoned for Jan. 6, Sent to Lompoc Prison on Gun Charge Conviction

1 hour ago

Spring Training Preview: Dodgers Are Favored to Be MLB’s First Repeat Champion

1 hour ago

With Immigrant Backgrounds, Vang, Leon Barraza Seek Fresno Council Seat

2 hours ago

Justice Department Won’t Release Names of FBI Agents Who Worked on Jan. 6 Riot Cases

2 hours ago

Aliens, Sloths and Silliness: Super Bowl Ads Offer Laughs, Celebs and Surprises to Win Over Viewers

2 hours ago

Mother Pleads for Britain’s Help in Freeing Son From Egyptian Prison

2 hours ago

Clean Energy Interests Shift Focus to Money and Jobs

2 hours ago

Russia Claims Capture of Eastern Ukraine Town; Kyiv Officials Silent

2 hours ago

Search Underway Along Alaska’s Western Coast for Plane Carrying 10 People

3 hours ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Slips as Consumers Worry About Inflation

3 hours ago

Visalia Woman Sentenced to 5 Years for High-Speed Chase That Injured Officer

A Visalia woman was sentenced Friday to five years in state prison for a 2022 high-speed chase in Tulare that left a police officer seriousl...

11 minutes ago

The damage to the Tulare police officer's vehicle during the incident. (Tulare County DA)
11 minutes ago

Visalia Woman Sentenced to 5 Years for High-Speed Chase That Injured Officer

President Donald Trump listens during a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
28 minutes ago

More Active Duty Troops Will Head to US-Mexico Border, Bringing the Total to 3,600

Authorities are searching for Hussein Ali, 65, of Fresno, last seen in Millbrae on Jan. 17, driving a black Kia Sorento. (Fresno PD)
53 minutes ago

Police Search for Missing Fresno Man Last Seen in Bay Area

1 hour ago

Martin, Pardoned for Jan. 6, Sent to Lompoc Prison on Gun Charge Conviction

New Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki poses during a a baseball news conference at Dodger Stadium Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025 in Los Angeles. (AP File)
1 hour ago

Spring Training Preview: Dodgers Are Favored to Be MLB’s First Repeat Champion

2 hours ago

With Immigrant Backgrounds, Vang, Leon Barraza Seek Fresno Council Seat

2 hours ago

Justice Department Won’t Release Names of FBI Agents Who Worked on Jan. 6 Riot Cases

2 hours ago

Aliens, Sloths and Silliness: Super Bowl Ads Offer Laughs, Celebs and Surprises to Win Over Viewers

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend