The Pechersky District Court of Kyiv extended the detention of an unnamed UAV battalion commander who demanded that subordinate servicemen return part of their cash payments and threatened to transfer those who disagreed to the infantry.
The Pechersky District Court of Kyiv extended the detention of an unnamed UAV battalion commander who demanded that subordinate servicemen return part of their cash payments and threatened to transfer those who disagreed to the infantry.
This is stated in the case materials published in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions.
They note that the suspect was appointed to the position on March 26, 2025, but actually began performing his duties in April 2025. According to him, he did not sign the combat orders for March 2025 and the report, which became the basis for the payment of combat salaries at issue in the case.
He said that the brigade commander arrived at the rear units and informed the servicemen that they would be awarded a bonus of UAH 100,000 each. The next day, the brigade chief of staff informed him that the servicemen had to give UAH 40,000 each, of which UAH 20,000 would remain for the needs of the battalion, and UAH 20,000 for the needs of the brigade. The UAV battalion commander claims that he brought this conversation to the battalion management at a staff meeting, who agreed to give the money.
Instead, the prosecutor’s office suspects that he extorted money from subordinates for the purpose of personal enrichment. Law enforcement officers believe that he voluntarily volunteered to participate in a scheme to extort money from the military. In particular, in April 2025, he ordered documents to be drawn up for the payment of a bonus of 100,000 hryvnias each for March 2025 to the personnel of two platoons (workshops) of the company of strike unmanned aerial systems.
«[The suspect] demanded an illegal benefit of UAH 40,000 for each serviceman who received such a reward, and stated that those who refused to comply with the said demand would be transferred to the infantry,» the case states.
Law enforcement officers note that on April 30, 2025, the commander of the UAV battalion received UAH 520,000 from his subordinates, of which UAH 50,000 he transferred to other servicemen, and kept the rest for himself. On May 2, he received another UAH 400,000, and the very next day he was served with a suspicion of committing a criminal offense under Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Acceptance of an offer, promise, or receipt of an unlawful benefit by an official).
The court granted the request to extend the term of detention of the suspected UAV commander and set him bail in the amount of UAH 42,392,000. He faces imprisonment for a term of five to ten years, with confiscation of property.
