The missing Ukrainian serviceman turned out to be serving in a Russian battalion
Roman Smolianyuk, who went missing from Izyaslav district of Khmelnytskyi region in 2023, turned out to be serving in the Russian battalion named after Mykola Kryvonos. This was reported by the investigation of 'Suspilne', - writes 'Hlavkom'. In September 2024, in a video shared by Russian propagandists, Smolianyuk expressed his dissatisfaction with the Ukrainian authorities and stated that he did not wish to fight for Ukraine.
24-year-old Roman Smolianyuk was appointed to the National Guard in August 2023, after which he went missing. According to the investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation, he was held in Sukhodilsk Correctional Colony in the occupied territory of Luhansk. Russian special services offered him to join the Kryvonos battalion, to which he agreed.
'This clearly qualifies as a serious violation of the Geneva Conventions... This is an international crime', noted Illya Nuzov, head of the European Network of Human Rights Organizations.
The Kryvonos battalion was created in 2023 as part of the Russian Defense Ministry's volunteer corps with the participation of former Ukrainian servicemen who were forced to join the Russian army. The commander of the unit, known as 'Batya Kharkivsky', Vyacheslav Hubin, participated in the events in eastern Ukraine and the attempts to create the 'Kharkiv People's Republic'.
The Ukrainian serviceman Roman Smolianyuk, who went missing from the Izyaslav district of Khmelnytskyi region, turned out to be serving in the Russian battalion, expressing dissatisfaction with the Ukrainian authorities. This situation reveals some negative aspects of military conflicts and international relations.