Court orders SBI to open criminal case against General Sodol
The Kyiv Court of Appeal has ordered the State Bureau of Investigation to open a criminal case against the former commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yurii Sodol.
This was reported by the chief of staff of the Azov brigade, Bohdan Krotevych (Tavr), Censor.NET reports.
"Today I appeared in court for the first time. And today I'm going back to the Toretsk direction. I was prepared for a refusal, but I wanted to hear it in person. Are the judges capable of telling me that my testimony against General Sodol does not constitute a crime? When I was given the floor, I stressed that I wanted to see justice. As of now, almost all brigade commanders are under investigation, but some military leaders feel impunity for their actions," Krotevych stressed.
He also added that only "a fair trial can protect those who actually give their lives for the sake of their homeland, those who are fighting in the trenches".
"If there is no accountability, the generals will continue to fight with people as pawns, but we are not Russians, we have no right to do this. What we see on the front line is exhaustion, the result of the previous management of brigades as meat. This should not happen again," stressed the Azov Chief of Staff.
According to Krotevych, the Kyiv Court of Appeal cancelled the ruling of the investigating judge of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv, Meleshak O.V. dated 19 August 2024 in case No. 761/24500/24, proceedings No. 1-кс/761/15750/24, and issued a new ruling, which obliged the authorised person of the State Bureau of Investigation to enter information on the commission of a criminal offence under Part 2 of Article 425 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations no later than 24 hours after receiving a copy of the court ruling adopted as a result of consideration of this appeal in accordance with Article 214 of the CPC of Ukraine.
Reference.
Article 425 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - Negligent attitude of a military official to service, if it caused significant damage, is punishable by a fine of two hundred eighty-five to three hundred twenty-five tax-free minimum incomes, or service restriction for up to two years, or imprisonment for up to three years.
The same act, if it caused serious consequences, is punishable by imprisonment for a term of three to seven years.
What preceded it?
On 23 June, the Chief of Staff of the Azov Brigade, Bohdan Krotevych (Tavr), said that he had written a letter to the State Bureau of Investigation calling for the opening of criminal proceedings against a Ukrainian general who, in his opinion, "killed more Ukrainian soldiers than any Russian general". He did not name the general.
On 24 June, the SBI confirmed that it had received a statement from the chief of staff of the Azov brigade, Krotevych, regarding the general.
On the same day, Volodymyr Zelenskyy decided to replace Lieutenant General Yuriy Sodol, Commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with Brigadier General Andrii Hnatov.
On 28 June, Krotevych said that he had received a response from the State Bureau of Investigation regarding his letter calling for the opening of proceedings against the former commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yuriy Sodol, but he was not satisfied with the response.
