SBI has detained four Ukrainian commanders

On January 20, 2025, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), in collaboration with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Armed Forces command, and the Ministry of Defense, detained four Ukrainian commanders, including two generals and two colonels.

The first detainee is Colonel Dmytro Ryumshin, the former commander of the 155th Mechanized Brigade. He is accused of failing to fulfill assigned duties and neglecting to address misconduct within his unit, including unauthorized departures of soldiers from the military base. According to the SBI, Ryumshin’s actions negatively affected the brigade’s performance, leading to operational failures in the combat zone and tarnishing the reputation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The SBI initiated a case against the former brigade commander on January 2, 2025, as reported by MilitaryLand.

Also detained were Brigadier General Yuriy Halushkin, former commander of the Operational Tactical Group Kharkiv (OTU Kharkiv), and Lieutenant General Arthur Horbenko, former commander of the 125th Territorial Defense Brigade. Both are suspected of service negligence related to the failure of defense and the subsequent loss of territory in Kharkiv Oblast on May 10, 2024. Halushkin was appointed commander of OTU Kharkiv in April 2024, just one month before the Russian offensive toward Kharkiv began. As for Horbenko, he stated in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda that the 125th Brigade lacked heavy weaponry, artillery, and had battalions operating at only 50% strength, leaving the brigade unable to halt the Russian advance.

The final detained commander is Colonel Ilya Lapin, the former leader of the 415th Rifle Battalion of the 23rd Mechanized Brigade. He is accused of failing to organize the defense of settlements within the battalion’s area of responsibility during the Russian offensive in Kharkiv Oblast in 2024. Additionally, he allegedly neglected to report developments to higher command and disobeyed orders to reclaim lost positions. Colonel Lapin is also suspected of voluntarily abandoning the battlefield. If convicted, he faces up to ten years in prison.

Meanwhile, Brigadier General Oleksandr Lutsenko, the former commander of the Operational Tactical Group Donetsk (OTU Donetsk), under whose leadership Ukrainian forces lost Avdiivka and Vuhledar, has not faced any consequences. Despite his failure to establish defensive lines behind these towns, which allowed the enemy to advance toward the gates of Pokrovsk, Lutsenko has been reassigned to another position within the structure of the Ground Forces and remains unpunished.

You can find the official SBI report on Ryumshin on their official website here, and the reports on the three remaining commanders here.