Former 155th Brigade commander ordered held over alleged kidnapping, murder of 2 civilians
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A Kyiv Oblast court on July 14 ordered former 155th Separate Mechanized Brigade commander Stanislav Luchanov held in pretrial detention for 60 days without bail on charges of organizing the kidnapping and murder of two civilians.
Luchanov, a lieutenant colonel, is suspected of organizing the abduction and killing of brothers Maksym and Roman Moseichuk from the village of Kalynivka in Kyiv Oblast. Luchanov denied the allegations, saying that he did not consider himself guilty.
Prosecutors say Luchanov ordered his subordinates from the 155th Brigade to kidnap the brothers and take them to a military base near Poltava, where they were held against their will.
Prosecutors further alleged that Luchanov later ordered the brothers killed in an attempt to conceal the abduction. They said a battalion commander carried out the executions at a military training ground near Poltava before burying the bodies in a pit.
Luchanov said he was prepared to cooperate with the investigation.
Defense lawyer Denys Lysov argued that the case file contains no direct evidence linking Luchanov to the alleged murders. He also claimed that witnesses had identified another servicemember as the person who issued the orders.
Luchanov was detained on July 13, becoming the 10th suspect in the case involving the alleged kidnapping and murder of the Moseichuk brothers.
The case became public on July 11, when Hromadske, citing its sources, reported that police had detained nine servicemembers from the 155th Separate Mechanized Brigade on suspicion of kidnapping. Later that day, Ukraine's Operational Command North announced that Luchanov had gone absent without leave (AWOL).
