Back
Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Law enforcement officers uncovered three service members of the separate assault regiment who planted drugs on the former commander of a battalion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Alexander Shirishin, and turned him over to the police. Currently, all three suspects have been notified of suspicion; they face detention.
As reported by Maksym Tsutskiridze, deputy head of the National Police of Ukraine, the suspects turned out to be former law enforcement officers who are now serving in one of the separate assault regiments.
What is known about the case?
According to investigators, the defendants long illegally surveilled the former battalion commander of one of the separate mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and collected confidential information about him.
It should be noted that the official statement does not include the name of the former battalion commander, but given the case details, it clearly refers to Alexander Shirishin. He himself recently stated that he was "planted with dope."
The perpetrators planned a provocation to discredit the serviceman and draw him into criminal liability using artificially created evidence.
In the night from 27 to 28 August 2026, the defendants broke into the victim's car, parked near his home, and hid narcotic substances and psychotropic drugs inside sealed in zip bags. Immediately after that, they informed police and the Military Police about the presence of prohibited substances in the vehicle.
They monitored the route and transmitted coordinates.
When the former battalion commander got into the car and set off on his errands, the defendants continued to accompany him and provide law enforcement with operational information about the car's movements. As a result, the vehicle was stopped by police in Kharkiv, and during inspection the beforehand planted substances were found.
For me, it is fundamentally important that no one has any doubt: the police will not conceal or ignore illegal actions by any individuals, regardless of their status or past,
— emphasized Maksym Tsutskiridze.
Currently, the three service members have been informed of suspicion of illegal entry into a dwelling, violation of privacy, drug trafficking, and instigating the charging of a known innocent person. Prosecutors of the Office of the Prosecutor General are preparing a petition to choose a preventive measure in the form of detention for the suspects.
Who is Shirishin and what was known about him before?
Alexander Shirishin led the battalion of the 47-th brigade in July 2024. In May 2025 he submitted a resignation letter, accusing the command of unjustified decisions that, in his words, led to failures and losses of personnel. After his statements, the General Staff created a special commission to verify the circumstances and assess the advisability of the command's decisions.
Already in August 2026, Shirishin reported that the court canceled the order bringing him to disciplinary liability, deeming it unlawful. Moreover, the decision noted that the publicly voiced problems by the serviceman found confirmation during the check.
At the same time, conclusions about a supposedly disciplinary offense attributed to him were made without a full and proper establishment of all circumstances.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Підкинули наркотики екскомбату ЗСУ: у Харкові викрили військових, які влаштували провокацію". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Channel 24.
