Three high-ranking Ukrainian military officials have been detained for alleged ‘inaction’ that allowed Russian forces to seize parts of the eastern Kharkiv region last year, prosecutors said on Monday.
Russian forces punched through into the northeastern territory last May in a surprise cross-border assault that saw Moscow create a ‘buffer zone’ along the frontier between the warring countries.
The office of the Ukrainian prosecutor general said in a statement it had detained two generals for ‘inaction that led to seizure of part of Kharkiv region in 2024.’
The generals were formally notified they are being investigated for ‘negligence.’
A third official with the rank of colonel is being probed on the same charges, as well as for ‘abandoning the battlefield’ without permission, a statement read.
The general prosecutor’s office said the three officials had been detained and posted images apparently showing officers arriving at the suspects’ homes.
The statement said the men’s negligence had resulted in the loss of Ukrainian weapons, territory and military personnel.
Meanwhile, Russia on Monday said it had shot down 31 Ukrainian drones which mainly targeted industrial sites.
‘Last night, anti-air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 31 Ukrainian drones,’ Russia’s defence ministry said on Telegram.
‘There was an attempted attack by enemy drones’ to target ‘industrial enterprises’ in Tatarstan, about 1,000 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, the regional government said.
‘All the drones were neutralised. There were no victims or damage,’ it said, without elaborating.
In the Kaluga region flanking Moscow, debris from a downed drone sparked a fire at a business but it was quickly put out, regional governor Vladislav Shapsha said.
In the region of Bryansk, which borders Ukraine, 14 drones were neutralised, regional governor Alexander Bogomaz said, adding that Kyiv had also fired four HIMARS missiles.
