Lykholit retrieved the mediocrity and ignorance of the armchair "generals" and opportunist politicians at front line with arms in 2014, - Butusov on arrested commander

Aidar commander Valentyn Lykholit, arrested yesterday, has repeatedly demonstrated personal courage and proven dedication to Ukraine while fighting in the Donbas.

Censor.NET 's Chief Editor Yurii Butusov wrote on Facebook.

"I do not know what Valentyn Lykholit is guilty of; I do not know the circumstances of the criminal case, so I will not pass judgments on the case. But the trial itself..." he wrote.

"I'm not acquainted with Lykholit, but I know that 'Batia' was the commander of an Aidar unit, which was among the most disciplined and combat-ready at Luhansk in July-August 2014. Officers of the 1st Tank Brigade, with whom I then communicated, told me. And, unfortunately, there were few reliable people like him at the front back then," he stressed.

"In Ukraine, the crimes against persons should only be considered by jury trials. When the current Prosecutor General Yurii Lutsenko was arrested in 2010, he also demanded a jury trial because he believed his case was political. And it was one of the main lines of his defense. Valentyn Lykholit has every reason to demand a jury trial," Butusov noted.

"There are no reasons to trust the current judicial system in Ukraine. Due to the inspection of databases by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, over 300 judges have not been re-certified only in the recent times. A lot of judges, who committed crimes during the Yanukovych times, have not been dismissed contrary to lustration law," he said.

"Chief of Staff Viktor Muzhenko is involved in the deaths of more than 400 Ukrainian soldiers, whom he sent in the encirclement at Illovaisk in 2014, while Valentyn Lykholit retrieved the mediocrity and ignorance of the armchair "generals" and opportunist politicians at the front line with arms. He risked his life hundreds of times. 'Batia' corrected the results of the anti-Ukrainian policy in the Donbas, conducted by the then mayor of Siverodonetsk, who later charged him. There is no doubt in 'Batia's' merit to the state. And I do not understand why the prosecutor's office and the court require detention of some suspects and do not require of others?" he asked.

"Yurii Vitalievich, you remember well what the jail and, particularly, Lukianivka detention prison is. You demanded justice yourself. This is a case when justice is required," he wrote addressing Prosecutor General Lutsenko.

Earlier, the Prosecutor General's Office charged two Aidar soldiers with a number of grave crimes. Later it turned out that one of them was Aidar's legend Valentyn Lykholit (call sign "Batia"). Criminal proceeding against him was opened on suspicion of organization of an armed gang, robbery, burglary, and kidnapping of two or more persons. According to the investigators, the fighter violated the Constitution and the Charter of the Ukrainian Armed Forces several times, as well as improperly performed his duties.

The Pechersk court appointed two months detention as the measure of restraint for Lykholit.