Soldier Serhiy Hnezdilov to remain in custody amid controversy over military service terms
Source: Suspilne
On November 19, the Kyiv Court of Appeals upheld a decision to keep Serhiy Hnezdilov, a soldier of the 56th Separate Motorized Infantry Mariupol Brigade, in custody. Hnezdilov faces charges of going AWOL.
The court rejected his appeal against a pretrial detention order issued by the Pechersk District Court in Kyiv, meaning Hnezdilov will remain in custody for 60 days without the possibility of bail.
The embittered soldier said he was planning to challenge the verdict adding it would make him go on hunger strike unless Ukraine’s defense ministry comes up with a bill addressing demobilization procedures. He added he was ready to return to service if the proposed legislation is passed.
On October 11, the court ordered the detention of Hnezdilov after he publicly admitted to leaving his military unit. Hnezdilov argued that he was trying to draw attention to the situation when there are no clear policy for when and how soldiers can be demobilized.
In his statements, Hnezdilov vented his frustration over the burden infantry troops face in combat zones while many other Ukrainian men dodge the military service using different schemes like fake medical exemptions. He also spoke about the mental and physical exhaustion among soldiers, calling out Ukrainians on the home front of their failure to share the responsibility.
Hnezdilov’s case has sparked debate about the strain on military personnel and calls for reforms in Ukraine’s mobilization and service policies.
In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.
During the GLOBSEC Defence Forum 2026 in Prague, representatives of “Steel Front”, an initiative by Rinat Akhmetov, discussed with NATO delegations, military officials, and representatives of the European defense industry the lessons learned from Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
After the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine witnessed an unprecedented wave of private support for the army. Citizens, big businesses, charitable foundations, and international philanthropists began financing the country’s defense alongside state assistance provided by international partners. Estimates of total private contributions range from tens to hundreds of billions of hryvnias. However, determining the exact amount remains difficult. In many cases, companies combine military aid, humanitarian programs, tax payments, social spending, and employee support in their reporting.
Rinat Akhmetov’s military initiative, “Steel Front”, has delivered a batch of drones worth UAH 214 million to the 1st “Azov” Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine. This shipment is part of the Metinvest Group’s ongoing support for the unit in 2025.
On October 6, the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court of Ukraine continued hearing case No. 990/80/25, in which the fifth President and leader of the party “European Solidarity”, Petro Poroshenko, seeks to have Presidential Decree No. 81/2025 from February 12, 2025 — enacting sanctions by the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) — declared illegal and annulled. The plaintiff claims the document was falsified and that the sanctions are a tool of political persecution of the opposition, contrary to international norms. Government representatives deny the allegations and insist their actions were lawful. Journalists of Bukvy were present at the hearing.