The commander of the 128th Assault Brigade, which came under attack during formation, had a prior conviction for cigarette smuggling from the Luhansk People’s Republic. On the day of the tragedy, he gathered soldiers but didn’t appear himself

Commander of the 128th Assault Brigade, Dmitry Lysyuk, whose fighters came under a Russian missile strike on November 3 during a “ceremonial formation” organized by the command, had previously been convicted of cigarette smuggling.

This information was reported by journalist Vladimir Boyko on his Facebook page.

According to his information, in 2019, Lysyuk, who was then the commander of a battalion in the 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade, was sentenced to a fine for smuggling and selling a batch of cigarettes from the “Luhansk People’s Republic” (LNR). Lysyuk’s battalion was stationed near the border village of Trehizbenka, where the cigarettes were smuggled across the Seversky Donets River.

“In late December 2018, Lieutenant Colonel Lysyuk took 290 boxes (144,420 packs) of ‘Marlboro Red’ cigarettes from a forest plantation in the area of the Seversky Donets River and transported them in a military cargo truck to Soledar (Donetsk region) and sold them to unidentified individuals,” Boyko claims, citing case materials.

In January, Lysyuk attempted to sell another 150 boxes in a similar manner but was arrested in Severodonetsk while receiving part of the payment, which amounted to $2,300. Lysyuk’s accomplice, who had proposed the smuggling scheme, reported him to the counterintelligence service of the Security Service of Ukraine. During the investigation and trial, Lysyuk admitted his guilt and was fined 119,000 hryvnias (3,073 euros).

Boyko also mentioned that Brigade Commander Lysyuk did not attend the formation that was targeted by the Russians, which is why he survived. The missile strike resulted in the deaths of 28 soldiers.

“They waited for him for half an hour, which was enough time for the enemy’s intelligence to spot the concentration of personnel,” the journalist wrote.

Official confirmation of this information has not been provided yet.

It’s worth noting that the Ukrainian Armed Forces officially confirmed the Russian strike on the assembly of Ukrainian troops in the Zaporizhia region the day before.

The incident has garnered significant attention and controversy due to the large number of casualties, with more than 20 soldiers killed. Ukrainian military personnel have also pointed out that such incidents of attacks on troop formations have occurred in the past, but Ukrainian command rarely confirmed them. In most cases, even when such information circulated on social media and in the news, there were no official comments or confirmations.