The Defense Ministry was unaware of the abuses in the 211th brigade until the media reported it. What led to this lack of knowledge?

The Ministry of Defense was not aware of the abuse of servicemen in the 211th pontoon-bridge brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The department only learned about the situation after media reports emerged.

This was reported by RBK-Ukraine citing a statement from the spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Dmitry Lazutkin, during an interview on "Radio Liberty".

The TV host inquired why the Ministry of Defense only commented on the situation in the 211th brigade after journalists wrote about the scandal, considering that information about the abuse in this brigade had been available since spring 2024 when service checks were conducted.

"You understand that the Defense Forces currently comprise over 1 million servicemen. Various incidents occur, and we try to address them as quickly as possible… We had no information regarding these cases previously; we now have information. Work will be done, and an investigation will be conducted," Lazutkin responded.

He added that the ministry was unaware of the scandalous situation since no reports had been received about events in the 211th brigade through the Ministry of Defense's hotline or the Central Department for the Protection of Servicemen's Rights.

The Scandal Involving the 211th Brigade

Recall that today, December 16, "Ukrainian Truth" reported that servicemen in the 211th brigade were subjected to severe abuse. In particular, one of them was even tied to a wooden cross.

Vladislav Pastukh, the commander of one of the platoons in the brigade, was involved in the incident.

The main details of the scandal can be found in the RBK-Ukraine article.