A disabled body camera cost 17,000 hryvnias: In Odesa, a soldier was tried for negligence during mobilization measures for the first time

A disabled body camera cost 17,000 hryvnias: In Odesa, a soldier was tried for negligence during mobilization measures for the first time

The Primorsky District Court of Odesa found a serviceman guilty of an administrative offense under Part 2 of Article 172-15 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses — negligent performance of military service duties during a special period.

This was reported by sud.ua.

Circumstances of the case №522/23696/25

On October 5, 2025, at approximately 23:20, a soldier, as part of a notification group, was conducting notification measures. During the stop and verification of a citizen’s military registration documents, the portable body camera assigned to the soldier, according to his statement, malfunctioned due to technical reasons.

The soldier claimed that he had checked the functionality of the body camera upon receiving it on October 5, 2025, and verbally reported the malfunction to the duty officer. He did not submit a written report or statement regarding the technical malfunction.

The court established:

• the body camera was issued to the soldier on October 5, 2025, and returned on October 6, 2025, at 01:30;
• on October 6, 2025, at 06:00, and on October 7, 2025, at 06:00, the body camera was issued to another serviceman in working condition;
• the logbook for the issuance and return of portable body cameras and memory cards contains no records of technical malfunctions;
• there is no information regarding repair work or technical inspections of the body camera during the period from October 5, 2025;
• the claim of a verbal report to the duty officer is not supported by objective data and is contradicted by other evidence.

The court concluded that the soldier acted negligently in his military service, failed to comply with the requirements for the use of video recording devices during notification measures (Part 6 of Article 22 of the Law of Ukraine «On Mobilization Preparation and Mobilization», urgent directive of the Minister of Defence of Ukraine dated 29.08.2025 № 4351/ud/5, Order of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine № 532 dated 06.08.2024), and did not document the alleged malfunction in the prescribed manner.

Court Decision

The court found the soldier guilty of committing an administrative offense under Part 2 of Article 172-15 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses.

An administrative penalty in the form of a fine of 1000 tax-free minimum incomes of citizens, amounting to 17,000 UAH, was imposed.

The soldier was exempted from paying the court fee based on Clause 12 of Part 1 of Article 5 of the Law of Ukraine «On Court Fees» (servicemen in cases related to the performance of military duties).

The ruling may be appealed to the Odesa Court of Appeal by filing an appeal with the Primorsky District Court of Odesa within ten days from the date of the ruling.