Lawyers of the firm "Barristers", defending the former commander of the 155th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Dmytro Ryumshin, shared the details of his arrest and the charges brought in an interview with the Business Insider.
As the lawyers noted, this materials will be sent to embassies of all G7 countries to draw attention to the injustice in the course of the case.
In particular, lawyer Bohdan Zabara stated that the accusation is based on whether Colonel Dmytro Ryumshin reported the desertion to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).
However, the law obliges the military to report to the SBI only about corruption crimes, and not about cases of desertion, he emphasized.
The main theses of the lawyers, which they voiced in an interview with Business Insider:
- The charges are unfounded and do not comply with the norms of the law.
- The amount of bail of more than 90 million UAH ($2 million) is completely disproportionate and raises doubts about the independence of justice.
- The defense lawyers consider the case of Dmytro Ryumshin to be politically motivated.
“This case is important not only for Dmytro Ryumshin, but also for all military personnel who faithfully perform their duties for the benefit of Ukraine. It raises the question of whether military personnel can count on fair treatment and protection of their rights. We call on society and the international community to follow this case,” the lawyers stressed.
Business Insider, for its part, writes that Ryumshyn led the 155th brigade when it was preparing for deployment to the front line, but suddenly announced his resignation in early December. Lawyer Boglan Zabara told Business Insider that the colonel was ordered to leave his post from higher commandment.
He was arrested on January 20, accused of “systematically concealing” desertions among his troops. The SBI reported that Ryumshyn received reports of disciplinary violations, but did not inform higher authorities or take action based on this information.
“Due to the commander’s actions, law enforcement officers were unable to begin the legal procedure of searching for and returning servicemen to their military unit and reserve battalions, and in some cases, to ensure that they serve their sentences for the crimes they committed,” the investigators said in a statement.
Lawyer Zabara said the colonel Ryumshyn would appeal the bail amount set by the court at UAH 90 million.
Zabara also told BI that the prosecutor’s office is charging the colonel based on whether he reported the desertion to the State Intelligence Service, not whether he responded to his men leaving for the North-Eastern Front.
But Zabara said that the law obliges Ryumshin to report only corruption cases to the State Intelligence Service, not desertion.
“The bail amount is completely unjustified,” Zabara said, calling Ryumshin’s trial “a politically motivated case.”
Ryumshyn said during the hearing that he had reported the desertion to law enforcement.
The 155th Anna Kyivska Brigade is currently fighting near Pokrovsk, where Russia is slowly but steadily trying to capture the key strategic city.
The brigade is armed with 18 AMX-10 armored vehicles, 18 Caesar howitzers and 128 armored personnel carriers.
Colonel Ryumshyn had a relatively high profile during his training in France, with French President Emmanuel Macron visiting the troops during the exercises in October.
Europe is not done with these joint training programs. The European Union has allocated $425 million to train new Ukrainian soldiers by the end of 2026, including 15,000 by the end of this winter.
But some military and analysts in Ukraine believe it was a mistake for Kyiv to create entirely new brigades like the 155th, instead of replenishing older, more experienced units that have already taken part in fighting.
Activist Serhiy Sternenko, who supplies drones to military units through crowdfunding, says his organization is helping the 155th brigade because of a shortage of officially provided drones and electronic warfare equipment.
“Why create a new brigade when the existing brigades are critically understaffed, only to then divide it and transfer personnel to old brigades? What’s the point?” he wrote in early January on his Telegram channel.
As the 155th brigade prepared to enter combat, its personnel were also often transferred to other brigades that desperately needed men, leaving the French-trained brigade to haphazardly reassign its troops to positions for which it was not prepared.
The commander of the 108th battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhiy Filimonov, wrote on January 10 that he knew of 10 such brigades operating in similar conditions.
He added that Western training methods provided by NATO troops “often do not correspond to the realities of modern warfare” in Ukraine.
“The realities of modern warfare show that foreign training, if it is not adapted to Ukrainian conditions and not integrated into the practice of units, is not only ineffective, but also dangerous,” he wrote in a commentary published by Ukrainska Pravda.
Background. As a reminder, on January 8, General Drapatiy spoke about what had been done to solve the problems in the 155th Anna de Kyiv Brigade. He emphasized that most of the shortcomings have already been analyzed and solutions are being implemented.