"NATO Standards": Lieutenant Colonel Yushko, accused of corruption, caught drunk driving again despite license revocation

"NATO Standards": Lieutenant Colonel Yushko, accused of corruption, caught drunk driving again despite license revocation

Take a look at this drunken disgrace who, on December 8, 2025, after drinking to the point of losing any semblance of humanity, got behind the wheel of a car once again. This is Lieutenant Colonel Yushko Viktor, former commander of the 207th Separate Territorial Defense Battalion (military unit A7376), who is currently on trial alongside former soldier of this battalion, Shabunin. At present, this individual is disgracing the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the position of deputy commander of the 162nd Separate Mechanized Brigade (military unit A4990).

On the defendant’s bench, the former commander of the 207th Separate Territorial Defence Battalion, Yushko, faces charges of abuse of office. Specifically, during a 5-month period in 2022-2023, at the selfless request of soldier Shabunin, he signed orders for fictitious business trips for Shabunin to the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NAPC).

Currently, several other episodes involving Yushko are under investigation based on my statements. In particular, during 2022-2023, he extorted money from the soldiers of the battalion he commanded—each had to pay Yushko 5,000 UAH per month. Additionally, the battalion had over 20 “dead souls” on its roster, for whom Yushko accrued salaries, additional bonuses, and “combat pay,” while appropriating the funds for himself. For example, Shabunin and Sherembey, who never once showed up to their units during one and a half years of fictitious service in the battalion, were paid 950,000 UAH each by Yushko.

Another source of income for Yushko was the trade in Form 6 certificates confirming direct participation in combat operations. Specifically, Yushko sold such certificates to draft dodgers Shabunin and Sherembey. Furthermore, mobilized soldiers were building a house for Yushko near Kyiv at a time when the battalion was performing tasks in the Bakhmut district.

It is worth reminding that in March 2025, the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv imposed a preventive measure on Yushko—a bail of 60,000 UAH. In connection with this, Shabunin hired two lawyers for Yushko, who are currently defending him in court. Inspired by such support, Viktor Vasylovych decided not to change his habits—he continues to consume alcohol, drive drunk around Kyiv and the region (Yushko was stopped by police near Fastiv, where soldiers built him a house), and continues to damage the vehicles of law-abiding citizens, as he has done repeatedly before.

Yushko has previously been held administratively liable several times under Article 130 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine. Specifically, by the ruling of a judge of the Holosiivsky District Court of Kyiv dated February 15, 2024, in case №752/21297/23, the commander of the 207th Separate Territorial Defense Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Yushko, was deprived of the right to drive vehicles for one year. However, he has not drawn any conclusions.

At the same time, as claimed by “Ukrainska Pravda” and lawyer Maryna Havrylyuk, hired by Shabunin to defend Yushko, the criminal proceedings against the former commander of the 207th Separate Territorial Defense Battalion are a “political case” orchestrated by a criminal regime against an honest officer solely because Yushko is an activist of the Anti-Corruption Action Center.

In this regard, a question arises for Judge Oleh Solovyov of the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv, who is handling the criminal proceedings regarding the charges against Yushko and Shabunin: Oleh Leonidovych, isn’t it time to change the preventive measure for the accused and send them to the guardhouse?