Court suspends brigade commander accused of misusing soldiers for repairing relatives' homes
A Kyiv court has suspended Yaroslav Lysenko, commander of the 43rd Brigade, from his post over allegations of abuse of office and aiding a group of individuals in evading military service under martial law, the Ukrainska Pravda media outlet reported on March 20, citing a court ruling.
The hearing in Lysenko's case, who is accused of assigning military personnel to repair his property and those of his relatives instead of performing their duties, was held on March 19.
Lysenko allegedly ordered at least seven service members to leave their units beginning in September 2024 and assigned them to renovation and construction work, according to the State Investigation Bureau (DBR).
The projects reportedly included apartments in the city of Cherkasy belonging to his daughter and former wife, a house in Cherkasy Oblast owned by his sister, and an apartment in Kyiv Oblast used by the commander.
Investigators said the arrangement was concealed through false reporting, with Lysenko telling military leadership that the service members remained at their unit and were performing official duties. The soldiers also continued to receive their military pay.
Lysenko will be suspended from his post as brigade commander at least until May 11, 2026, the report read.
Lysenko, who is accused of abuse of office and of aiding a group of individuals in evading military service under martial law, faces up to 10 years in prison. The service members who carried out the repair work are also accused of evading military service and face up to 10 years in prison.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have repeatedly documented cases of alleged abuse of authority by military commanders.
In 2025, service members in Odesa Oblast were assigned to repair a commander's apartment while remaining on the official payroll. In a separate case, a platoon commander in Ternopil Oblast was charged after allegedly sending a subordinate to carry out private construction work instead of performing military duties.
