State Bureau of Investigation establishes where did officer charged with murder of Zaluzhnyi’s aide get grenades

Oleh Timchenko, an officer from the Office of the Aides to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, pleads not guilty to the murder of his colleague Hennadii Chastiakov, and a polygraph examination confirmed that the suspect had no malicious intent.

Source: Tetiana Sapian, advisor of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), on air during the national joint 24/7 newscast

Details: The State Bureau of Investigation announced the completion of the pre-trial investigation against Timchenko: the suspicion was changed and he is now charged with negligent homicide.

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Quote from Sapian: “During the investigation, SBI officers found that the suspect had received grenades in one of the military units and was supposed to hand them over to the warehouse at his place of service.

As we understand, he did not do so and kept them in his office. At some point, he decided that this would be a rather original gift for his colleague Hennadii Chastiakov.

According to the investigation, there were eight grenades in total (they were kept in the office), and he gave six as a gift, packed with a bottle of whiskey. The birthday man decided that they were not real grenades but shot glasses and began to open them. We know what happened next.”

Details: In response to a clarifying question from journalists, Sapian said that the suspect did not admit his guilt.

At the same time, she said, a polygraph examination showed that his actions were not premeditated.

Timchenko also insists that he warned Chastiakov about the authenticity of the ammunition, but his words are refuted by witnesses.

Background:

• A 39-year-old soldier 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.
• Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs, said that preliminary information from an investigation suggests Major Hennadii Chastiakov pulled the ring from a grenade he had been given, causing the tragic explosion.

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