Prosecutors investigate disappearance of UAH 4 million in captivity payments for serviceman

A criminal case has been opened in Ukraine regarding the circumstances under which serviceman Vladyslav Sambur failed to receive approximately UAH 4 million in state payments designated for his nearly three-year stay in Russian captivity. Despite the budgetary funds being transferred, they never reached the defender himself.

Prosecutor General's Office reaction

Acting Prosecutor General Anton Kovalsky announced the start of the investigation in a Facebook post. According to him, he had reviewed the story of Vladyslav Sambur in detail, who, after being released from captivity, was forced to turn to the courts to defend his right to the financial resources due to him.

“I have ordered an immediate investigation into all the circumstances of this situation,” noted the Acting Prosecutor General.

Areas of investigation

After the preliminary establishment of facts, the information was entered into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations. Currently, investigators are examining the actions of officials from the military unit where Vladyslav Sambur served.

A separate episode of the investigation concerns potential fraud during the receipt of payments by the serviceman’s mother, who had been deprived of parental rights.

“Each of these episodes must receive an appropriate legal assessment,” emphasised Anton Kovalsky.

Bureaucratic obstacles for defenders

The official drew attention to the fact that a soldier who survived nearly three years in Russian captivity was forced to overcome bureaucratic barriers on his own after his return to achieve justice. In his view, eliminating deficiencies in the work of state institutions should not become an additional ordeal for defenders.

“If the system failed somewhere, the system itself must correct it, not the serviceman,” Kovalsky stressed.

He added that military personnel should not have to resolve problems caused by bureaucratic procedures on their own for years after being released from captivity. Currently, the circumstances of the payment receipt and the actions of the persons involved are subject to thorough verification within the framework of the investigation.

Similar precedent in Rivne

Previously, another case was reported in Rivne, where a court ordered the mother of serviceman Dmytro Panchuk, released from Russian captivity, to return nearly UAH 3.9 million in state payments to her son. The woman received these funds while her son was in captivity but refused to voluntarily return them after his return.