Ukrainian activist Sternenko pays fine to enlistment office after complaining of possible persecution

Serhii Sternenko, a Ukrainian blogger, volunteer and social activist who had been placed on a wanted list, has said that this was because he failed to turn up at a military recruitment centre upon receiving a call-up notice. Sternenko has linked this to his criticism of the army system and his calls for military reforms. The enlistment office did not deny that they are looking for the activist, but said this was not "revenge".

Source: Sternenko on Telegram; Odesa Military Recruitment Centre on Facebook

Details: Shortly beforehand, Sternenko said he had learned from pro-Russian sources that he was allegedly wanted by the military recruitment centre in Odesa’s Prymorskyi district for "violating the legislation on defence, mobilisation training and mobilisation, and the established military registration rules for drawing up reports on administrative offences".

According to Sternenko, "there is reason to believe that this may be a ‘rebuff’ from the army system for criticising them and calling for the reform that our soldiers need".

He stated that all of his current details regarding his residence in Kyiv were in the Reserve+ app (the official Ukrainian Defence Ministry app for conscripts, persons liable for military service and reservists) and that he had not received any communications about being placed on the wanted list. And the "call-up notice" appeared to have been delivered to him at an address in Odesa. "The call-up notice did not go to either the address where I live or the address where I’m registered," Sternenko said. 

Sternenko also noted that he isn't in hiding. "What’s also absurd is that on the day I was supposedly put on the wanted list, I was attending a meeting at the Ministry of Defence. And the next day I was at another one. So I was definitely acting like someone in hiding, yeah, right," he wrote. 

The Odesa Military Recruitment Centre did not deny that they were looking for Sternenko, but stated that they "act exclusively within the law, and specifically in accordance with Article 259 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences and other regulatory legal acts governing the rules of military registration and mobilisation training".

According to a statement from the enlistment office, Sternenko failed to report a number of important details, including the fact that he had already visited the Prymorskyi district’s military recruitment centre, where he paid an administrative fine for breaching the military registration rules, and that he had been referred to to a military medical board.

"These facts indicate that Mr Sternenko was aware of the need to fulfil his duties as a person liable for military service and took appropriate measures to resolve [the issue of] his status," the statement said.

The recruitment centre also urged Sternenko, if he had any doubt about the legality of their actions, to apply directly to the structural subdivisions of the Odesa Oblast Recruitment Centre to clarify all the circumstances and rectify any possible misunderstandings.

Background: 

• Sternenko told Ukrainska Pravda in May that he was not fighting at the time because he was more useful as a volunteer.
• Sternenko regularly organises fundraisers to buy drones for Ukraine's Armed Forces and transfers them to combat units. He has said that 115,000 drones have been purchased with the total amount of money raised – UAH 2.9 billion (approx. US$70.2 million). "A huge number of Russians and equipment have been destroyed and 386 UAVs have been shot down. We continue to work on developing technologies for the army," he said.

Reference: Sternenko is a prominent Ukrainian blogger, volunteer and public activist. In his videos, which get hundreds of millions of views, he denounces Russian propagandists and Ukrainian pro-Russian collaborators.

Sternenko has been accused of a variety of crimes, including kidnapping, rioting and assaulting a police officer, drug trafficking, and killing someone who attacked him. He denies all the charges.

In May 2021, the Odesa Court of Appeal overturned a verdict of robbery in a case in which Sternenko and Ruslan Demchuk were accused of kidnapping and torturing local parliamentarian Serhii Shcherbych in the spring of 2015, but Sternenko received a suspended sentence on a firearms charge.

The court closed the case against Sternenko in December 2023 after the statute of limitations for the 2018 incident expired. Subsequently, Sternenko was assaulted three times. On the second occasion, he apprehended the attacker. During the third incident, Sternenko was attacked by two professional athletes. He injured his assailants, one of whom died at the scene.

Support UP or become our patron!