The State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) of Ukraine has announced suspicion against an officer from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhnyy, who allegedly gifted grenades to Assistant Chief of the General Staff, Hennadiy Chastyakov. This announcement was made in a Telegram channel by the SBI.
According to the SBI, the officer purchased eight handheld universal offensive-defensive grenades, known as “DM 51a2,” without the required permission and brought them into his office. He then packed six of these grenades in a wooden box as a gift, which he presented to Chastyakov.
The SBI stated that the officer continued to keep the remaining two grenades in a cabinet in his office. A criminal case has been initiated against him under the charge of “acquisition, possession, and sale of explosive devices without the required legal permission.”
On November 6, it was reported that Major Hennadiy Chastyakov, the assistant to the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, died in an explosion on his birthday. His children were also injured in the incident and have been hospitalized, with one in critical condition and the other in a moderate state.
Initially, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Mariana Reva, attributed the incident to “careless handling of ammunition.”
The Minister of Internal Affairs, Igor Klymenko, described the death of Zaluzhnyy’s assistant as an accident. According to him, Chastyakov received a box of grenades of a “new Western model” as a gift. When he arrived home, he showed the box to his family. Chastyakov’s son took one of the grenades and started spinning the ring, prompting his father to take the ammunition away from him. However, for unknown reasons, the safety pin was pulled out, resulting in an explosion inside the house.
Earlier, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine had warned the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine against triumphalism.
