Their father died defending Ukraine. A former Ukrainian brigade commander is now suspected in the murder of his two sons

A former Ukrainian brigade commander is ігізусеув of ordering the abduction and killing of two civilian brothers in Kyiv Oblast, investigators say. Nine of his soldiers have been detained, and ex-commander Stanislav Luchanov himself — who had gone absent without leave after their arrests — was detained in Kyiv on 13 July, bringing the total to 10

Since 2022, Ukraine has argued that its war differs in kind, not in degree, from Russia’s. Ukraine’s military command says punishment here will follow regardless of rank or past decorations. The case puts that promise in front of Ukraine’s own courts, and it is the second scandal in a month reaching into the army’s assault formations.

The night in Kalynivka

Seven armed men entered a private yard in Kalynivka, a village in the Bila Tserkva district of Kyiv Oblast, overnight on 27–28 June. Neighbors heard shots. Two brothers, Maksym and Roman Moseichuk, were taken away. Serhii, their surviving brother, noticed they were gone several days later. Serhii searched for them himself; it was law enforcement that told him his brothers had been abducted, Focus reported.

Investigators say the men were driven to Poltava Oblast, where the 155th Separate Mechanized Brigade has its training ground, and killed there. Some accounts place the site in neighboring Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Bodies believed to be theirs were later exhumed. Kyiv Oblast police, working with the Armed Forces’ internal security directorate, opened proceedings under articles covering premeditated murder and unlawful deprivation of liberty.

The war had already taken the family

Serhii Moseichuk Sr., the brothers’ father, served from the invasion’s first days in the 28th Rifle Battalion. His vehicle drove onto mines on 20 July 2023, and he was killed at the front.

Maksym joined the National Guard in 2022 and served roughly two and a half years. In the war’s first days, he fought near Brovary, on the eastern approach to Kyiv. His godfather, Vasyl Dmytriienko, told Hromadske the young man knocked out two Russian tanks there. Maksym stayed in the service for another year after his father died, then left. Roman was a civilian.

“Our father was killed in the war. One of the brothers served in Ukraine’s National Guard. He too defended Ukraine from the first days. He was both a grenadier and an assault soldier. They were discharged on account of our father,“ Serhii Moseichuk, the surviving brother, told Hromadske.

The motorcycles

Stanislav Luchanov, then the commander of the 155th, had his wife, Daryna, and her mother living in Kalynivka. Residents of the village told Hromadske that his wife had repeatedly complained about motorcycle noise disturbing her small child. In the days before the abduction, soldiers of the 155th had reportedly walked through the village with a paper list. They asked locals for the addresses on it — apparently, a register of motorcycle owners. Serhii Moseichuk’s name was on it. Maksym’s and Roman’s were not.

The commander and the regiment before him

Luchanov was appointed to command the newly formed 155th Separate Mechanized Brigade in February 2026. He received the Order of Courage, third degree, in the summer of 2024. When his subordinates were detained, he left his unit without authorization. He was detained in Kyiv on 13 July, the Prosecutor General’s Office said.

Before the 155th, he had served briefly as chief of staff at the 425th Separate Assault Regiment Skelia, Ukraine’s largest assault regiment. The regiment is regularly assigned high-risk assault missions and takes higher-than-average battlefield losses. On 23 June, Babel published an investigation into 25 non-combat deaths among Skelia recruits at its training centers.

Skelia publicly distanced itself from Luchanov on 12 July. It noted that he had held the Skelia post for less than a year. His transfer to the 155th preceded the alleged crimes by about five months. On the facts, the distancing is legally correct. Criminal liability is personal.

Skelia’s statement also acknowledged the regiment is undergoing “deep transformation” and “systematic renewal of internal processes.” On 7 July, investigators raided the drone manufacturer Vyriy Industries, whose chief executive owns Babel.

Explore further

CEO of one of Ukraine’s biggest drone makers just got raided. He also owns outlet that exposed 25 non-combat deaths at military unit

The arrests

A battalion commander is among those detained, suspected of involvement in the murder itself. At his hearing he did not name who ordered it. Eight have been ordered held without bail. The detentions were carried out across several Ukrainian oblasts on the orders of Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi. Ukraine’s Ground Forces Command confirmed it is cooperating with the investigation.