Ukraine's Interior Minister on death of Commander-in-Chief's aide: he took a grenade from a child and triggered explosion

Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs, has said that preliminary information from an investigation suggests Major Hennadii Chastiakov pulled the ring from a grenade he had been given, causing the tragic explosion.

Source: Klymenko on Telegram

Quote: "The tragedy in Chaiky is beginning to acquire various information from ‘sources’. Therefore, I am officially informing you:

As a result of priority investigative actions, it has been possible to determine the circumstances of the tragedy. Today was the birthday of the deceased Major Chastiakov. He returned home from work with gifts from colleagues, which he began to show to his family. He took out a box with grenades inside and began to show them to his son. These were new Western grenade models.

First, the son took the ammunition in his hands and began to twist the ring. Then the soldier took the grenade from the child and pulled out the ring, causing the tragic explosion."

Details: Klymenko confirmed that the police found five more such unexploded grenades in the apartment. They will be sent for examination.

The police found the fellow soldier who gave the fatal gift. His office has been searched and two more similar grenades were seized. Priority investigative actions continue.

The minister urged people not to disseminate unchecked information and wait for the official conclusions of the investigation. The pre-trial investigation continues.

Background: 

• A 39-year-old soldier was killed on the evening of Monday, 6 November when a grenade exploded in his home in the village of Chaiky in Kyiv Oblast. His 13-year-old son was taken to hospital with serious injuries. The deceased man, Hennadii Chastiakov, was an aide to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 
• Zaluzhnyi confirmed the death of his aide Chastiakov under tragic circumstances and expressed his condolences to his family.
• The wife of the late Hennadii Chastiakov says that the grenade that exploded in her husband’s hands was in a gift bag that he had brought home. On 6 November, Chastiakov celebrated his birthday.
• A Ukrainska Pravda source in the General Staff noted that Chastiakov had graduated from the Military Academy in Odesa and knew exactly how to handle a grenade.

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