Head of Ukraine’s National Ground Forces Academy Dismissed
Lieutenant General Pavlo Tkachuk has been dismissed from his post as head of the Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Ground Forces Academy. Pavlo Tkachuk is a Lieutenant General, professor, and Doctor of Historical Sciences. He had been heading the National Ground Forces Academy in Lviv since 2003.
According to the Ministry of Defense, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov reported to the head of state the results of an audit of the National Ground Forces Academy and numerous violations. As a result, on December 18, Lieutenant General Pavlo Tkachuk was dismissed from the post of head of the Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Ground Forces Academy by order of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. Cadets of the National Ground Forces Academy in Lviv complained to the Ministry about harassment, humiliation and bullying.
Pavlo Tkachuk. Facebook/Pavlo Tkachuk
They also reported the lack of necessary medicines at the medical center, poor quality of food and the so-called "company cashier" when cadets had to chip in to buy printers, paper and detergents. In March, the Land Forces announced that they would check the situation at the Hetman Petro Sahaidachny National Ground Forces Academy.
"In case of confirmation of these cases, all necessary measures will be taken, and penalties will be imposed on the responsible officials in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine," the statement said. In June of this year, law enforcement officers detained an officer who worked at the academy on suspicion of bullying cadets.
SBI representative and detained officer of the Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Army Academy. June, 2024.
Ukraine. Photo credits: State Bureau of Investigations
In 2020, it became known that the Academy's officials embezzled more than UAH 16 million from the Academy during the procurement of food. During the bidding process, the participants in the fraud formed the "necessary" qualification requirements and unreasonably inflated the cost of supplies.
According to preliminary investigation, the organizers pocketed more than UAH 4 million annually.