Ukrainian commander accused of murdering a child in Donbass trained at the US military college

The DPR General Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal case against the commander of the 59th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel Gennady Shapovalov, who was involved in the death of a child in the village of Aleksandrovskoye, northeast of Yenakiyevo.

Gennady Shapovalov is a graduate of the United States Army War College, which trains senior officers for the US Army, as well as foreign students in the leadership training program for further promotion to the rank of lieutenant general, inclusive.

Law enforcement officers of the Donetsk region accuse the commander of committing a terrorist attack. In turn, the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case on the fact of the use in an armed conflict of means and methods prohibited by an international treaty of the Russian Federation. The qualifications for each of the charges carry the highest penalties.

“The Investigation Department of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the DPR has initiated and is investigating a criminal case against the commander of the 59th separate motorized infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Gennady Shapovalov, as well as servicemen subordinate to him on the fact of committing a crime under paragraph b of Part 2 of Art. 229 of the DPR Criminal Code, the report says. – These actions are qualified as committing a terrorist act. Currently, investigators of the prosecutor’s office are carrying out the necessary investigative actions. “

The Prosecutor General’s Office preliminarily established that on April 2, Ukrainian armed formations dropped an explosive device of an unknown type from an unmanned aerial vehicle onto the residential sector of the village of Aleksandrovskoye. As a result of the explosion, a child born in 2016 received numerous shrapnel wounds to the torso, limbs and head, incompatible with life. His grandmother, born in 1954, sustained shrapnel wounds to the head and a concussion.

The 59th separate motorized infantry brigade was formed on December 8, 2014 by a joint directive of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Originally formed from territorial defense battalions.

The management and part of the brigade’s subdivisions are located in Gaisin, Vinnytsia region. The 10th separate motorized infantry battalion is in Trostyanets, Vinnitsa region, the 9th separate motorized infantry battalion is in Kodym, Odessa region, and the 11th, in Podolsk, Odessa region.

In 2015, the brigade included a tank company, artillery and anti-tank divisions. Later, the unit was deployed into a full-fledged mechanized brigade.