Commander of the scandalous 211th brigade sent to pre-trial detention centre on bail of 12 million hryvnias

The commander of the 211th pontoon-bridge brigade of the AFU Support Forces, Oleh Poberezhnyuk, who, according to the investigation, covered up systematic abuse of servicemen, was arrested and placed in a pre-trial detention centre, but he was given the opportunity to get out on bail in the amount of 12 million 112 thousand hryvnias. This is reported in a press release of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

The court also sent a motion to suspend Poberezhnyuk from his official duties until the investigation is completed.

The scandal in the 211th brigade became public after a series of publications in the media, which revealed the facts of systematic violence against servicemen. The brigade was formed in 2022 and, according to the investigation, many of its soldiers were people connected to the commander through official or family relationships. The brigade commander, Oleh Poberezhnyuk, enlisted his relatives and acquaintances, including his wife, who works at the TCC.

on 29 December 2024, the commander was detained in Kyiv and notified of suspicion. The investigation found that from February to July 2024, Poberezhnyuk knew about the facts of torture and inhuman treatment of subordinates, but took no action to investigate the incidents or punish the perpetrators. The crimes were committed by a senior lieutenant, the son of the brigade's chief of staff and a close comrade of the commander, who abused soldiers.

One of the episodes uncovered during the investigation was an incident in February 2024 when an officer beat a soldier who was intoxicated and then ordered him to undress and continue beating him. Later, in Avdiivka, the same soldier was again assaulted. The officer also ordered to tie him to wooden structures in the form of a cross, leaving him in this position for several hours.