Accessibility links

Breaking News

Ex-Ukrainian Armed Forces Chief Of Staff Detained For High Treason


Volodymyr Zamana in a Kyiv court today.
Volodymyr Zamana in a Kyiv court today.

The former chief of staff for Ukraine’s armed forces has been detained on charges of high treason.

Prosecutor-General Yury Lutsenko wrote on Facebook that General Volodymyr Zamana was taken into custody on February 25.

According to Lutsenko, Zamana is suspected of illegally dissolving 70 military garrisons and units, including air-defense missile brigades and battalions, and 19 air force units, and reducing a tactical aviation brigade to a squadron from 2012-2014.

Zamana's "illegal" actions resulted in the liquidation of military registration and army-draft offices, which by 2014 weakened the Ukrainian Army and helped Russia annex Crimea and helped incite separatism in Ukraine's east, Lutsenko wrote.

"Additionally, Zamana personally issued a directive subordinating all units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' Crimean tactical group to the Navy commander, which actually paralyzed Ukrainian military personnel’s resistance to the Russian aggression," Lutsenko wrote.

Ukrainian Chief Military Prosecutor Anatoliy Matios said earlier in the day that Zamana had been formally notified of being considered a suspect in a treason case.

With reporting by UNIAN and Gordon

  • 16x9 Image

    RFE/RL

    RFE/RL journalists report the news in 27 languages in 23 countries where a free press is banned by the government or not fully established. We provide what many people cannot get locally: uncensored news, responsible discussion, and open debate.

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG