Death of former Ukrainian military chief’s aide: officer who gifted grenades to him will stand trial.

The case against Oleh Timchenko, an officer from the Office of the Aides to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has been submitted to court proceedings by officers of Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation (SBI). Timchenko is facing trial for gifting grenades to his colleague Hennadii Chastiakov, which resulted in the latter’s death.

Source : SBI press service; Ukrainska Pravda

Details : The SBI's investigators completed the pre-trial investigation on 29 March 2024, after which the defence and affected parties had the opportunity to review the case file.

At the initial stage of the pre-trial investigation, the officer was served with a notice of suspicion of ammunition trafficking. Later, the suspect was informed of a change in the previously served notice of suspicion. He is suspected of theft, embezzlement, trafficking of ammunition, manslaughter due to negligence, and causing grievous bodily harm due to negligence.

The case was transferred to Kyiv's Pecherskyi District Court, the SBI told Ukrainska Pravda.

Previously: Oleh Timchenko pleaded not guilty to the murder of his colleague Hennadii Chastiakov, and a polygraph examination confirmed that the suspect had no malicious intent.

Background:

• A 39-year-old military serviceman was killed on the evening of Monday, 6 November, when a grenade exploded in his home in the village of Chaiky in Kyiv Oblast. His 13-year-old son was taken to hospital with serious injuries. The deceased, Hennadii Chastiakov, was an aide to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
• Zaluzhnyi confirmed the death of his aide Chastiakov under tragic circumstances and expressed his condolences to the family.
• The wife of the late Hennadii Chastiakov says that the grenade that exploded in her husband’s hands was in a gift bag that he had brought home. On 6 November, Chastiakov celebrated his birthday.
• A Ukrainska Pravda source in the General Staff noted that Chastiakov had graduated from the Military Academy in Odesa and knew exactly how to handle a grenade.
• Ukraine's Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko stated that, based on early investigative findings, Chastiakov's son first picked up the grenade and began to twist the pin. The officer then took the grenade away from the child and pulled the pin out, causing the tragic explosion.
• Oleh Timchenko, who gave Chastiakov the grenades, claimed that he had warned him that the munitions were live, but his words were refuted by witnesses, the SBI noted.

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