Commander charged with negligence after Russia hits military award ceremony in eastern Ukraine
The commander of a Ukrainian unmanned systems battalion was charged with negligence after holding an award ceremony for soldiers in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast earlier this month, despite a ban.
The military gathering was hit by Russia, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) said on Nov. 7.
The strike killed 12 servicemen and seven civilians, while 36 others were injured, according to the Prosecutor General's Office.
According to the investigators, the officer organized on Nov. 1 a formal assembly and award ceremony for over 100 servicemen in front-line areas of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, including locations where civilians were present.
Although the General Staff had prohibited such gatherings, the commander neither halted the event nor dispersed the soldiers during an air raid alert, the SBI said.
At that time, Russia reportedly struck the assembly points with three Geran drones and two Iskander missiles.
Earlier, the 30th Marine Corps, which includes the 35th Marine Brigade, confirmed that its service members had been targeted in the recent Russian attack.
Kostiantyn Huzenko, Ukrainian photographer and serviceman with the 35th Separate Marine Brigade, was also killed in the strike, Huzenko's friends told the Kyiv Independent.
If found guilty, the officer could face up to eight years in prison.
Similar incidents have happened before, where Russia killed elite Ukrainian soldiers during award ceremonies in front-line areas. This Soviet-era practice has been criticized by both President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian military.
Following a series of Russian attacks on training grounds and military centers, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi announced in July that gathering troops and equipment or stationing soldiers in tent camps is banned.
