The story of the 155th Brigade is not unique: a former fighter from the 4th Special Forces Regiment shared details about the abuses by the command.

Corruption and Threats in the 4th Special Operations Regiment: How Command Exploits Its Position

Last year, the Military Prosecutor's Office learned about instances of corruption in the Kharkiv Detachment No. 1. Specifically, the acting commander of the detachment, a major, abused his position, with documented cases of corruption and threats. The officer demanded monthly payments from the personnel to align salaries with the headquarters, totaling 12,600 hryvnias from each soldier serving on the front line. In return, those military personnel who refused to hand over this amount were threatened with terrible service conditions without proper support.

According to a soldier, the leadership of the tactical group, which includes the chief of staff, threatened to send soldiers who wished to transfer or apply for a medical board to the infantry. He noted that the officer is under investigation for corruption but still heads the headquarters. However, as "Bars" knows, he no longer demanded money from the servicemen in the Special Operations Forces. When asked if soldiers tried to complain about their commander, "Bars" replied that they did not, as they feared being transferred as a consequence.

The soldier mentioned that in the 4th regiment, most of the personnel are "drug addicts and alcoholics."

"I realized that this 4th regiment was sending undesirable individuals, alcoholics, and drug addicts from all over our country as if into exile. They were all pushed there. So, can you imagine the kind of contingent there? I was transferred there, and I found that the soldiers were drinking, using drugs, and they were starting to be locked up in solitary confinement, so to speak," — explained "Bars."

He pointed out that as a result, everyone was prohibited from leaving the territory of the unit. The soldier approached the battalion commander and asked why the command equated those who voluntarily went to fight with "alcoholics and drug addicts."

Moreover, there were individuals in the regiment who constantly ran away; they were caught and returned to the unit. Despite this, these individuals were also sent with other soldiers for training in Poland, resulting in eight of them fleeing there as well. Because of this, the entire personnel began to face punishment. Specifically, the unit's command ordered the company commanders to confiscate soldiers' phones, civilian clothing, and all documents. However, the servicemen raised a "ruckus" and did not hand anything over, leading to the unit's command punishing the company commanders for failing to carry out the order.

According to "Bars," there was also a situation where a company of well-coordinated soldiers was transferred to the 4th regiment, and the command transferred several of them to other companies, effectively rendering them non-combat ready.

Why Was an Individual Under Investigation Promoted in Military Service?

"Everything is turned upside down and twisted; it seems that the worse it is, the better," — said the lawyer.

According to Leontiev, for a serviceman to be appointed to a higher position, there must be a corresponding submission to the higher command, a meeting of the attestation commission, and a service appraisal must be provided. In the lawyer's opinion, in this case, they simply "spit on everything and brushed it aside."

"How do they explain all this? They explain that he is not yet an accused, and there is no court verdict that has entered into legal force. Oh, so he's innocent," — he clarified.

Leontiev noted that the commanders who wrote good evaluations for the officer and appointed him to a higher position are formally correct. After all, there is no verdict that has entered into legal force. However, there are some moral laws, he emphasized. The lawyer suggested that either the commanders do not know what kind of person this is, or they are "criminals themselves and are covering for him."

On January 8, the State Bureau of Investigation reported the detention of the commander of the 155th Brigade "Anna Kyivska". In particular, he went to the Special Operations Command and incited his soldiers to do so.