The Lviv Regional Council has adopted a resolution in support of Colonel Valerii Kurko and has called for preventing the discrediting of Ukrainian military commanders during the period of full-scale war.
The appeal stresses that the investigation concerning the colonel must be conducted objectively and impartially, and that a notice of suspicion cannot be equated with a guilty verdict handed down by a court.
It is noted that in 2022 Valerii Kurko effectively formed the 103rd Separate Territorial Defence Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from scratch and, together with his comrades-in-arms, stood up in defence of the state during one of the most difficult periods for Ukraine.
The regional council’s resolution underlines that military commanders take decisions directly on the battlefield, under fire and under constant threat to life, assuming responsibility for their personnel and for the fulfilment of combat missions. Therefore, in the deputies’ view, their actions cannot be judged by the standards of peacetime.
The deputies emphasise that all the circumstances of the case must be established by the court, and that until a decision is made no one should destroy the reputation of the servicemen who defended Ukraine. This, as the appeal stresses, is a matter of justice and of trust in Ukrainian soldiers.