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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
The serviceman links the incident to his consistent criticism of assault regiments and a long-standing conflict with commander 225 OShP Shyriaiev.
Former battalion commander 47 of the separate mechanized brigade “Magura,” Oleksandr Shyrshyn, said that on 28 August he was stopped by police in Kharkiv. It happened when he was driving past the scene of a traffic accident. According to the serviceman, during the vehicle check law enforcement officers first inspected the trunk and the cabin. Then they asked him to open the rear-seat armrest. There they found a package with a narcotic substance and scales. Shyrshyn claims the substance was planted on him, reports Babel.
According to Shyrshyn, even before inspecting the car the police began hinting that he might be under the influence of some substances.
“We have information that you’re on something. I said, ‘Well if I’m on something, blow into it.’ He said, ‘No, we’ll go to a medical facility.’ I said, ‘Okay, let’s go to a medical facility.’ He said, ‘But first let’s look at your car. Open the trunk,’” the serviceman recounted.
He said nothing illegal was found in the trunk. After that, the police inspected the cabin and personal belongings, and also asked to open the rear-seat armrest.
“I don’t use that armrest because it’s the back seat. I open the armrest, there’s some package. I take it out, he says, ‘What is this?’ I say, ‘I don’t know.’ I unwrap it, and there’s weed with scales. And a bunch of small bags,” Shyrshyn said.
The serviceman noted that among the items found were small one-gram scales. He believes that because of this he could be charged not only with possession but also with distribution of narcotic substances.
According to Shyrshyn, a policeman demanded that he put the package back in the car. The serviceman refused: “I will not put it in the car, it’s not mine. I closed the car, put it on top of the vehicle.”
Shyrshyn is currently waiting for his lawyer and the investigative-operational team to arrive. He is convinced that the police acted on a specific tip and knew in advance where and what to look for.
The serviceman also pointed to people he believes are connected to the SBU: “At the moment I was stopped, there were immediately people here who looked like SBU agents. They’re walking around hiding now. The police say they don’t know them. But they’re hanging around, passing my data, right now they’re talking with the cops, exchanging something, texting.”
Shyrshyn himself ties the incident to his consistent criticism of the assault regiments. He considers commander 225 of the separate assault regiment Oleh Shyriaiev, with whom he has a long-standing conflict, to be involved in what happened.
“I don’t have a conflict with anyone else anymore, except with 225 and 425,” the serviceman said.
Shyrshyn added that a series of events preceded the search. He plans to speak about them later.
Oleksandr Shyrshyn’s conflict with the command has been ongoing since May 2025. At that time he submitted a resignation letter and publicly accused the command of assigning unjustified missions that led to personnel losses.
According to him, during the fighting in the Kursk region and on the Ukraine-Russia border he repeatedly received tasks that were doomed to fail. In response, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the creation of a working group. It was to verify the circumstances described by the serviceman.
In June 2025 Shyrshyn said that following the results of the review he was found to be undisciplined and accused of disseminating official information on social networks. And in August 2026 a court annulled the order labeling him “undisciplined,” finding that the conclusions about the disciplinary offense were made without proper clarification of the circumstances.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Екскомбата «Магури» зупинили з наркотиками: він каже, що це підстава". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ZN.ua.
