Arrested fighter of Aidar volunteer battalion earlier involved in armed attack, abduction

Ihor Radchenko, the fighter of the Aidar volunteer battalion, who was arrested for brigandage on July 2, had been earlier involved in the armed attack on the Accent TV and radio company, abduction and controversial death of his subordinate, which was recognized to be a suicide.

Maria Tomak, the journalist of the Centre for Civil Liberties, writes this in her investigative article.

Ihor Radchenko is a rather famous person in the town of Rubizhne in Luhansk region. He had been working as a lawyer before the war started. Moreover, a source in the law enforcement agencies of Luhansk region says that in pre-war times Radchenko was known by the speaking nickname “devil’s advocate” and “gangsters’ father.”

The journalist also cites the evidence of involvement of the reconnaissance and subversive company No. 24 of the separate assault battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine under the leadership of Radchenko in the armed attack on the Accent TV and radio company in the town of Lysychansk, Luhansk region, in October 2014.

According to the journalist’s investigation, the attack on the TV and radio company was carried out with the purpose of its further use as a media resource by Serhiy Dunayev, the MP from “Opposition Bloc.”

In addition, the article reads about abduction of a civilian, a former local official, who became a pro-Ukrainian volunteer by the fighters of the “Radchenko’s company.”

“It is worth noting that at least at the moment we met that person was a pro-Ukrainian volunteer who helped the military. In his own words, the fact of his abduction coincided with the interests of Serhiy Dunayev,” Maria Tomak writes.

Tomak also cites facts that indicate the involvement of Radchenko in the death of his subordinate, soldier of Aidar battalion Dmytro Shabratsky.

Shabratsky died on March 26, 2015 on the Aidar military base under murky circumstances. The explosion of grenades and then a shot from a Kalashnikov assault rifle in the chin – the investigation defended the suicide version from the very beginning.

Numerous motions of a lawyer of Shabratsky’s family, filed to the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Military Prosecutor’s Office, were ignored. A few months ago, the proceedings were closed by the reason of an alleged suicide. However, the lawyer appealed the termination of the case and the court upheld the complaint. There are too many contradictions, gaps and facts that apparently contradict the version of suicide which is much easier and profitable for the investigation and the commander of Shabratsky.