’Undisciplined’ status has been revoked. Court ruled that Syrskyi’s decision was unlawful, – Shyrshyn
The court ruled in favour of Oleksandr Shyrshyn, the former commander of one of the battalions of the 47th Separate Mechanised Brigade, and revoked his ‘undisciplined’ status.
He announced this on Facebook, according to Censor.NET.
What is known?
"The ‘undisciplined’ status has been revoked. The court ruled that the order issued by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was unlawful and revoked it, noting that the conclusions regarding the disciplinary offence had been reached without a proper investigation into all the circumstances," the post states.
The court recognised that a soldier’s critical post, in itself, does not constitute a disciplinary offence if it does not contain classified information and is intended to draw attention to real problems.
"Furthermore, the court established that the issues raised in my post were confirmed during an official investigation.
This ruling does not mean that a commander is always right or that military personnel must resolve all issues publicly. It means something else: the state cannot punish a person simply because their criticism proved inconvenient. The law must apply equally to everyone — from a soldier to the Commander-in-Chief.
Some people tried to dissuade me from challenging Syrskyi’s decision, saying it was just a remark and not worth the trouble. It is worth it. This is another step towards greater justice, greater trust and stronger institutions within the Armed Forces. Oleksandr Stanislavovych didn't quite manage to wait it out," Shyrshyn concluded.
What led up to this?
- Earlier, Censor.NET reported that Shyrshyn, commander of the 47th Mechanised Brigade "Magura", had submitted a request for discharge due to the command’s "idiotic orders".
- For his part, Yurii Butusov, Editor-in-Chief of Censor.NET, commenting on Shyrshyn’s action, noted that the statement by Shyrshyn, commander of the 47th Mechanised Brigade, requires an official response from the General Staff and the command. Further actions in the Kursk region should only be planned following an after-action review.
- It was subsequently reported that, on the orders of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a working group had been set up to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances outlined in the social media post by the commander of a unit of the 47th Separate Mechanised Brigade.
- The working group, which investigated the situation published on social media by ‘Magura’ Shyrshyn, the battalion commander, regarding a series of ineffective decisions at the front, found Shyrshyn himself to be undisciplined.
- Subsequently, the court overturned the reprimand issued to Shyrshyn.
