Another Criminal Case Related to the 44-Day War Submitted to Court

The prosecutor has submitted another criminal case related to the 44-day war concerning the commanders of military units and battalions to the court based on an established indictment.

The investigation revealed that the commander of the N military unit, Colonel A.O., from October 6 to 7, 2020, exhibited negligence in the performance of his official duties, leading to serious consequences.

Specifically, on October 6, A.O. received an order from the commander of the Defense Army to launch an assault on the western edge of Horadiz towards the Lyalya-Ilyagi direction and to restore the breached front line. However, during the preparatory work carried out that day and the counteroffensive on October 7, he did not comply with the legal requirements governing military service.

A.O. failed to properly execute the conduct of military operations, poorly managed the subordinate units, did not ensure coordination among them, violated march protocol, and misallocated forces and resources. Consequently, the units under his command reached the specified departure zone and moved toward the operational area later than scheduled with a significantly reduced number of military equipment and personnel, thus failing the assigned combat mission.

It was also found in the same case that the commander of the N military unit, Lieutenant Colonel G.A., was involved with his battalion in the counteroffensive carried out by the military unit on October 7, 2020. He was obligated to join the assault on the western edge of Horadiz alongside other directions. However, under the pretext of assessing losses in weaponry and ammunition, he intentionally refused to continue executing the combat mission.

G.A. ordered his battalion personnel to deviate from the designated route and rejected offers to communicate with higher commands. Subsequently, without the consent of senior command, he ordered the entire battalion to turn back without continuing the counteroffensive.

In the same proceedings, the commander of the N military unit, Lieutenant Colonel G.M., who was also part of the counteroffensive on October 7, had a similar obligation. However, after his tank overturned into an anti-tank ditch, he was able to exit without injury. He relocated his crew—the mechanic-driver and the gunner-operator—to an adjacent area with infantry. Using the incident of the tank overturning to avoid active participation in the counteroffensive, he failed to take any measures to restore disrupted command or to coordinate further actions with his crew, essentially refusing to continue fulfilling the combat assignment.

The prosecutor has initiated public criminal proceedings against A.O. under part 3 of Article 376 of the Criminal Code (negligence during a state of war) and against G.A. and G.M. under part 3 of Article 364 (refusal to perform military service duties during a state of war). The prosecutor has confirmed the indictment and submitted the case materials to the competent court.