Ukraine's International Legion

Problems in paradise?

My eyes glazed over reading the Kyiv Independent’s investigation of alleged shenanigans in Ukraine’s International Legion. I stopped after the part about Piotr Kapuscinski, the ex Polish mobster, who reminded me of Oleskandr Hohilashvili

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Back in the day there was such a thing called chain of command, a system in a military or civil organization by which instructions are passed from one person to another.

In the U.S. military, a commander is presumed to have acted properly, and the burden is on the member to prove that the acts alleged were in fact wrongful. Article 138 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice gives military members who believe they have been unfairly treated the right to seek redress.

Appropriate matters include:

• Violation of a law or regulation

• Acts beyond the commander's authority

• Arbitrary and capricious acts

• Abuse of discretion

• Acts that are clearly unfair or unjust

How the complaint process works in Ukraine’s military is anyone’s guess.

Of course, there’s always fragging, if you don’t want to deal with the hassle of filing a formal complaint. Fragging is a slang term used to describe U.S. military personnel tossing fragmentation hand grenades (hence the term fragging) usually into sleeping areas to murder fellow soldiers. It was usually directed primarily against incompetent unit leaders, officers and noncommissioned officers.

1. Oleksandr Hohilashvili Busted. Ukraine’s drug czar self-destructs (December 13, 2021)