The commander declined to lead an assault and faced court. What was the verdict, and what are the military's comments on the situation?

The Velikonovoselkovsky Court in the Donetsk region examined an administrative case opened against an Ukrainian Armed Forces officer for refusing to carry out an order. The commander reported to the higher command that his unit was unable to storm the landing site, and as a result, he faced either a fine or detention in a guardhouse. The court sided with the officer, as reported on the "Judicial and Legal Newspaper" portal.

According to the case materials, the battalion commander Konstantin K., whose unit was assigned to the 110th OMBr of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, received an order from the brigade commander on December 14, 2024, to storm a forest landing. The military refused to comply with the order, citing several reasons. Ultimately, the Russian Armed Forces captured the area. In response to the commander's actions, an administrative protocol was drawn up for violating the Military Service Statute and the Disciplinary Statute of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The offense falls under part 2 of article 172-15 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, i.e., negligent service in wartime conditions. The punishment for this article ranges from one to two thousand tax-exempt minimum incomes or detention in a guardhouse for 10-15 days. The court heard the positions of both parties and sided with the officer, as indicated in the ruling: the charges were dismissed.

It is noteworthy that in the Register of Judicial Decisions, one can find the ruling related to judicial proceedings No. 3/220/12/25. The document describes the events reported on the "SЮG" portal, but it does not disclose the name of the involved party.

Court and Armed Forces of Ukraine — Case Details

The text of the verdict reveals details regarding the positions of the commander, the brigade commander, and the court.

The commander explained that his unit was incapable of carrying out the combat task for the following reasons:

• as of December 2024, the battalion had less than half of its personnel — 314 instead of 758 (i.e., 41%);
• of the available fighters, one-tenth (33 people) had not completed basic military training, 12% were undergoing treatment or were classified as unfit (38 people), several individuals refused to obey orders, and in the previous battle, there were casualties (2 dead) and injuries (10 injured), with five missing;
• there were only four days to prepare for the assignment, which was insufficient for combat coordination;
• the brigade command was aware of the issues but "there was no understanding."

In turn, the judge agreed with Konstantin K.'s position and noted that it was also unclear to him where the commander was supposed to obtain resources to fulfill the combat task. Additionally, he questioned why there were no materials from a service investigation in the case, which could have shown the brigade's actions in this situation. Based on these and other considerations, the court dismissed the case due to the "lack of an event and the elements of an administrative offense."

What is the Military's Reaction

On social media platform X (Twitter), one can find the reactions of military personnel who read the SЮG publication. For example, under a post by a user with the nickname ucky__soldier, military personnel wrote that the court's decision was quite reasonable and that the commander acted correctly. For instance, user Born to chill shared his own experience, stating that commanders regularly inform the higher command about combat and personnel composition (BЧC), but the command does not respond to the lack of personnel. Others expressed their joy that there are majors in the Armed Forces of Ukraine who care for the personnel and were outraged by the decisions of commanders, whose actions are somehow not examined in courts.

Volunteer and public figure Sergey Sternenko also reacted to the court's decision, publishing a screenshot of the military's reactions.

As a reminder, on January 8, the commander of the Ground Forces, Drapatiy, explained what would be done with the 155th brigade, which is expected to become a "symbol of France's assistance."