Military Vlad Sord is suspected of stealing millions from the Armed Forces and fraud. And it all started with the fact that he deceived girls - the great story of "Babel"

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1.

Sorda's real name is Vladyslav Stafiychuk-Granetskyi, his nickname is "Snake". He is 28 years old, born in the Vinnytsia region, as he himself said, in a poor family. Next, we tell the story known from his words.

In an interview with Ukrinform in 2019 , Vladyslav said that at the age of 16 he ran away from home and went to Crimea. There he entered the branch of the Yaroslav the Wise National Law University on a budget basis, received a higher and then a presidential scholarship , practiced in the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea. Thanks to the scholarship and work, "at the age of 20 I bought an apartment in Simferopol."

In 2013, the Revolution of Dignity began — at that time, Sord was studying in his last year. He dropped out of university and went to Kyiv, where he joined the "Right Sector" . On April 1, when Crimea was already occupied by Russia , Sord went to Simferopol. There, the boy saw that "some people from Saratov" live in his apartment .

From the Crimea, Sord went to fight as part of the "Right Sector" - to Savur-Mohyla, and then to Ilovaisk . "I think there were 38 of us," Sord continued in an interview with Ukrinform. "We were there [in Ilovaisk] for two weeks , I was a cover shooter, holding a position."

In Ilovaisk, Sord was injured - a KAMAZ truck that covered "Grad" fell into the trench where he and his comrades were. Some people died, and Sord himself was seriously wounded. He recalls that he was taken to Dnipropetrovsk , to the hospital named after Mechnikov. "If I'm not mistaken, when we got to the Dnipro, there [in Ilovaisk] the fighting had already started - this breakthrough, the "corridor", the shooting," he said. "We were very lucky - a maximum of a day and a half after we were taken out, it was already terrible there."

While Sord was recovering from his injury, he learned about the death of his comrade-in-arms, Serhiy Tabala, a soldier with the call sign "North" at the Donetsk airport. After Tabala's funeral, Sord founded the "Avengers named after Serhiy Tabala" detachment - the fighters separated from the "Right Sector" and fought in Pisky as their own separate unit, and then as part of the volunteer battalion of the OUN.

The former press officer of the 93rd Brigade, and now the commanding officer of the 47th Mechanized Brigade, Andrii Mikheichenko, confirmed to Babel that Sord really fought in Pisky. "It was an attack on the Volvo Center , and he took part in it," Mikheichenko recalls. - He entered together with our seventh company and volunteers. I threw grenades at the enemy, I had to turn back, so he ran to me in the trench."

In 2015, Sord signed a contract with the 93rd Brigade. "He spent a year in Butivka , then in the artillery reconnaissance battery," current press officer of the brigade Iryna Rybakova tells "Babel". In 2017, Sord transferred to the press service of the 93rd brigade. He explained it as follows: shortly before the transfer, he had a conflict with one of the officers, they fought. The commander of the brigade, having read Sord's collection of poems "Transgression", called him to him and offered two options - either to go to the "lip" or to become the head of the press service.

Andrii Mikheichenko, who was in charge of the press service of the brigade at the time, says that taking soldiers to the position of an officer in the press service was a common practice at that time.

"Sord was assigned to the press service after several scandals, stories with the SZCH [voluntarily leaving the unit], the commander decided to give him a second chance," Mikheichenko says. — There were two officer positions in the press service, one of which was occupied by me. On the second, we involved soldiers who had a knack for creativity."

In the 93rd brigade, Vlad Sord, according to him, wrote the anthem of the brigade, and also initiated the renaming of the brigade to "Holodny Yar" , "he himself drew a chevron, a flag, went through all the steps of registration, then reached President Poroshenko." Andriy Mikheichenko says that this is a bit of an exaggeration. "He wrote the text of the anthem, agreed with the brigade commander, there were also fragments from the brigade commander," says the soldier. — Sord was in the group that was engaged in the rebranding of the brigade, but the initiative, name, patch, flag, etc. were developed, first of all, by historians Vasyl Pavlov and Vitaly Haydukevych , and not by someone else."

In 2017, Sord married the writer Victoria Hranetska. At the beginning of 2018, he resigned from the Armed Forces because his contract expired, and together with his wife founded the publishing house "House of Chimera".

2.

On March 20, 2021, an action by supporters of Serhiy Sternenko took place on Bankova Street, near the President's Office . The participants painted the office building, set fire to the doors and broke the windows. The next day, the police arrested the person who broke the windows, he turned out to be Vlad Sord. He spent several days in the pre-trial detention center, then he was released under 24-hour house arrest. Dozens of soldiers and volunteers supported Sorda. And he himself said in the "Right to Power" program on "1+1" that he was detained because the President's Office wants to discredit any protest actions.

During the broadcast, Sord recalled that when he was treated in the Mechnikov Hospital after being wounded in Ilovaisk, he was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. He showed the award and named the number of the order — 83075. Sord mentioned the order earlier, in an interview with the website "Ukrainian Vinnytsia" on March 14, 2019 : "There [at the Mechnikov hospital], Mr. [Valery] Geletey presented me with the order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, although I did not was a military serviceman, he did not have a rank."

This Order of Swords was shown on the air "1+1". Facebook

Vlad Sord with the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. Facebook

Mykola Kolesnik, the former curator of the "Kryvbas" battalion, drew attention to this . "I saw a photo of him standing with this order," Kolesnyk tells Babel. - And I was very surprised, because usually privates and sergeants are not awarded this order. To get it, a person must really perform a feat in war." The next day after the broadcast, Deputy Vladlen Neklyudov published a response from the President's Office that Sord did not receive any state awards.

Kolesnik also showed some pictures of Sord. The first was published by "VKontakte" on August 17, 2014 - on it, according to Kolesnik, Sord is at a checkpoint between the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions, although he should have been in Ilovaisk at that time. Other pictures from September 7, they show Sord at the concert, although he was supposed to be treated for an injury at that time. Kolesnik also wrote that the fighters who were in Ilovaisk at that time did not see Sorda there.

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"Babel" talked to two fighters who were in Ilovaisk in August 2014 - Andrii Mikheichenko and Andrii Shskiper. "I saw guys from the Right Sector there, talked to them, we basically knew everyone - Sorda was not there," says Mikheichenko. "He [Sord] said he was part of our group in Ilovaisk, but he wasn't there," Skiper adds. - There was a small number of us there, and we knew each other well. Until this situation happened, I didn't know him at all."

Oleksiy Seredyuk, a former combatant of the "St. Mary" battalion, came to Sord's defense - he said that he first met Sord on August 13 at the last checkpoint . And then, in a few days , he helped him bandage the injured hand. In the comments, a participant in the battles in Ilovaisk, a fighter of the "Kryvbas" battalion, Denys Zolotaryov wrote that the KAMAZ, which allegedly fell into a trench and killed some people, actually just burned down, and he did not see Sord himself during this battle.

In response to the accusations, Sord wrote a column on "Censor.net" . In it, he explained that the photo posted on August 17 was taken earlier. And the photos from the concert are from September 6, when he was already discharged from the hospital. Sord confusedly explained when he was in Ilovaisk. But according to the new version, he stayed there for exactly less than two weeks.

In April 2021, the court fined Sord for illegally keeping the order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. In the decision , according to Sorda, it is stated that he received the order while being treated at "Mechnikov" from an unknown man in a military uniform, but without chevrons. The court recognized that Sord kept the order illegally and confiscated it. Sord himself did not admit his guilt.

3.

After February 24, Sord was mobilized to the 93rd brigade. And on March 15, 2022, according to him, activist Roman Ratushny called him. "He said that he has types with whom he traveled in the Kyiv region, and he wants to continue to fight normally, preferably with me," Sord wrote on Twitter .

"We were really looking for ways to legalize ourselves in the Armed Forces, because it was difficult to do because of the military commissars," says one of Ratushny's brothers, who fought with him in Teroboron Kyiv. - Roma had a lot of numbers, we started calling everyone and called Zmiya too. Moreover, we knew that he serves in the 93rd brigade, and we really wanted to get there - because it is a legendary brigade."

According to Sord, together with Ratushny, he discussed the creation of a special unit based on the 93rd Brigade. Two close relatives of Ratushny and his mother Svitlana Povalyaeva tell "Babel" that they never heard from Roman about plans to create something with Zmiy. "Roma was never just a friend of the Snake, but even a close friend," says Svitlana Povalyaeva. "I remember that the last time Roma came to the funeral of his brother, he said that the Serpent was sitting in Barvinkovo, 30 kilometers from the front, and he was telling everyone how he was fighting terribly."

On June 9, 2022, Roman Ratushny died near Izyum. In July, Sord, according to him, discussed the idea of ​​a special unit with brigade commander Ruslan Shevchuk. "At least 95% of us agreed on the vision. I told him that we have a ready-made structure, so the idea can already be implemented. That's how he offered me to lead a special platoon," said Sord in an interview with the "Svidami" publication in January 2023. The platoon was named in honor of Roman Ratushny with his call sign "Seneca".

The commander of the 93rd brigade, Ruslan Shevchuk, offered Sorda to lead "Seneca", says the press officer of the 93rd brigade, Iryna Rybakova. The unit was engaged in technical intelligence — repair and flashing of drones, interceptions, production of some ground drones with explosives, dropping from drones.

"Seneca" consolidated unit existed separately from the 93rd brigade, several fighters told "Babel". It was provided with the funds of volunteers, and Sord was in charge of the collection. "All our units collect something for themselves and report for something. The most important thing for me is that our official pages are involved as little as possible in all processes," says Iryna Rybakova.

A fighter with the call sign "Stoik", who has been with Seneca since the end of September 2022, says that Sord has been helping the brigade before. "For example, back when I was in the fire support company of the 93rd brigade, volunteer helmets and volunteer armored personnel carriers for the entire company came to us through him," says Stoik. — It took off the cap for the company officer and foreman. There were also "radeyki", starlinks with account payment - that is, someone paid for them, and these, of course, were volunteer funds."

On Twitter, Sord constantly announced meetings for the needs of the brigade. For the sake of the report, I sometimes posted videos — for example, of military personnel with purchased cars or drones. But how much money came in and how much of it went to the needs of the fighters, the Sord brothers interviewed by "Babel" do not know. There were no reports in social networks either.

4.

The story with the collection of 3.5 million hryvnias for five mortars for the brigade began in July 2022.

• On July 20, 2022, Sord posted on Twitter a collection for "five Polish mortars" - he later clarified that they were actually Czech.
• On July 25, 2022, if Sordu is to be believed, there were 1.2 million hryvnias in the account.
• On October 8, 2022, Sord closed the collection and wrote that the full amount was collected for mortars - 3.5 million hryvnias.
• December 14, 2022 Vlad said that mortars are already in Kyiv.
• On August 3, 2023, Sord wrote that the paid-for mortars have been in Kyiv for about half a year and the brigade will take them away in any case.

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After a thread appeared on Twitter about Sorda's relationship with several girls , he received a lot of questions - in particular, about mortars. Sord wrote that the mortar issue was "almost resolved" and promised to publish the full history of the army bureaucracy and the report in a week and a half to two weeks. The next thread appeared on August 23, in which Sord reported that the purchase of mortars turned out to be "a very difficult and long-term task," and the money collected for them was spent on "other needs of the Seneca special unit." He did not show any account statements or reports.

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twitter

On August 28, 2023, in a new thread , Sord said that he spent 2.3 million of the money collected for mortars on the purchase of an analogue of the "Plastun" complex for the 93rd brigade. According to him, the money for "Plastun" was supposed to be transferred to the volunteer and writer Yevgeny Lir by an unknown donor, but then Lir lost contact with him. So, together with the leadership of the brigade and Lear, Sord decided to urgently cover the payment from the money collected for the mortars. Sord also showed a receipt for the transfer of UAH 2.3 million for July 25, 2022. At that time, if you believe Sord's posts, a little more than half of this amount — 1.2 million — was collected for mortars.

Evgeny Lear explains to Babel that on June 3, 2022, at Sord's request, he posted a fee for a system similar in characteristics to Plastun. Later, he was approached by an anonymous donor who offered to pay for the system himself. Lear sent the previously collected funds to other charitable foundations , but then his account was blocked and he lost contact with the donor. "Now it looks like a scam, but you want to believe that a person sincerely wanted to help," Lear tells Babel. — "Plastuna" for his unit was paid by Vlad Sord from his volunteer account, the receipt was posted publicly. "Plastun" was handed over the same summer, it is still working."

Lear says that Sord did not tell him that he took the money for Plastun from the mortar levy: “I know for a fact that the system was paid for from Sord's volunteer account. What kind of money this is, I cannot establish, because initially Vlad said about the loan of this amount through the contact of his fighter, additional fees, redistribution of money, etc.

Sord says that he expected that Lear's donor would be found and compensate him for the money spent. He also claims that he opened the collection for mortars earlier — on July 12, 2022, although it appeared on Twitter only on July 20. Another strange thing is in the payment documents. The amount of UAH 2,830,000 is indicated in the invoice , and UAH 2,380,000 in the screenshot of the payment and in the monobank receipt.

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In July 2022, Sord wrote that he was communicating with "Return Alive" about the delivery of mortars to Ukraine. On July 3 of this year, he announced that the fund was "not ready to take it on" and refused. Taras Chmut, the leader of "Return Alive" says in a comment to "Babel" that this is not true: Sord did not contact him personally or officially to the foundation regarding mortar issues. "Maybe he talked to one of my colleagues, but I don't know anything about it," adds Chmut. - This whole story with mortars seemed very strange to me at once, because we know all the difficulties with the purchase of weapons. But it was interesting to see how it would all end."

Mortars, according to Sorda, he planned to buy through the Czech-Slovak company Framea. According to the registers , the company was established in 2018 and is engaged in many types of activities — for example, preparatory work for construction, real estate leasing, advertising, and also the purchase and transportation of weapons. The authorized capital is five thousand euros. The income in 2020 and 2021 was from 80 to 90 thousand euros, and already in 2022 it increased sharply to 1.3 million euros.

A fighter with the call sign "Stoik", who transferred to "Seneca" at the end of September 2022, tells "Babel" that the story with the mortars immediately seemed suspicious to him. "I asked for documents - from whom it is purchased, how it is purchased. I'm not a lawyer, but during my corporate history I've proofread and signed a lot of contracts, says the soldier. - I said that this is not a contract, but bullshit. Money will be taken from you, but nothing will happen. The firm looked very cloudy. And in general, there was no money for these mortars, because, as Zmiy said, they were used for the purchase of "Plastun", partly for the purchase of an aeroscope and for a certain part of maviks for the brigade. But again, he said - don't worry, we'll still collect, cover, and everything will be great."

After the publication of the text, Evgeny Lear wrote to "Babel" that Serhii Sternenko, who was collecting for it, bought the aeroscope for "Seneca".

Stoyk adds that he offered Sord to publicly inform that it was not possible to buy mortars, and the money was spent on other needs: "But this proposal was rejected." While bidding for mortars continued, Sord also posted bids for other Seneca needs, such as attack drones. And he publicly assured that the mortars have already been paid for and will soon be on the balance sheet of the brigade.

5.

The consolidated unit "Seneca" ceased to exist as part of the 93rd brigade in April 2023. "Since January of this year, the commander has changed, and he has "put in formation", that is, sent people to perform their duties in accordance with their regular positions," explains the press officer of the 93rd Brigade, Iryna Rybakova.

The Seneca unit was to be transferred to the 78th Hertz regiment . Stoic, who transferred there, says that "Seneca" was planned to be revived at the base of the regiment when they saw its effectiveness, but in fact it did not happen.

In April, Sord resigned from the 93rd brigade . Evgeny Lear says: Sord told the volunteers that he had transferred to the 78th regiment. For him, he also made collections on Twitter. But according to Stoik, there is no Sord in the staff list of the 78th regiment. "Babel" sent an official request to the press service of the 78th regiment with the question of whether Sord was once part of it.

On August 14th, Twitter user Kolozsvári Pál asked if people who believe Sórd embezzled donation money are willing to go to the police and promised to pay for a lawyer. "Babel" contacted this person - he introduced himself as Pavel and said that a group of lawyers was working to bring Sord to justice.

"All the facts that we saw in the public - manipulations with seals , embezzlement of donations, misappropriation of funds - all this is confirmed," says Pavlo. "Now we are still thinking about what to do with the people who donated cash to Sorda - these are large sums, from one hundred thousand hryvnias." Pavlo also reported that the statement against Sord has already been handed over to the State Bureau of Investigation . Currently, about ten people are injured in this case - they are those who donated more than 15 thousand hryvnias to Sorda.

On the twenty-eighth of August, Sord came up with a new version — he claims that the responsible person from the unit was to deal with the purchase of mortars, and the delivery of mortars to the unit was to go through the Ministry of Defense. Sord has allegedly already initiated an investigation against "the activities of certain officials of the Ministry of Defense". And he will publish a detailed report on the movement of volunteer funds only if it does not violate the secrecy of the investigation.

Babel sent official requests to the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff asking them to confirm whether the departments were indeed involved in the purchase of mortars for the 93rd Brigade. We have not yet received official answers, but our interlocutors at the Ministry of Defense unofficially said that this is nonsense and the Ministry of Defense had nothing to do with this story.

Vlad Sord did not respond to Babel's request for comment. If he answers all the questions after the text is released, we will publish them separately.

6.

Lyera, who wrote a thread about her relationship with Sord, says that she did not think that history would turn like this and that Sord would be suspected of fraud. "When I wrote the thread, I just wanted to warn other girls so that they know who he is," the girl tells Babel. Many people wrote to her in three weeks - now Lyra knows that at the same time as her, the military man met at least 7-8 other girls.

"I was just blown away by it all," Lyera continues. - He lied all the time. He was in Kyiv this New Year, and I wanted to celebrate with him. And then, precisely on the 31st, around four o'clock in the evening, he writes to me that some kind of rot is brewing, that "we were told to cover up the drones and be ready." I wound up, it was difficult for me. And recently I found out that he just celebrated the New Year in a small company with his other girlfriend."

During the relationship, Lyera says, Sord often offered her expensive gifts — a laptop and Starlink, bought an EcoFlow charging station , and put money on a card. "I could write to him, ``throw three thousand to the gym,'' and he throws twenty," the girl says. She adds that at the same time, Sord often complained about the delay in combat payments , and in other months said that he was throwing his entire salary into the needs of the unit. Lyra adds that some other girls with whom Sord had relationships confirmed that he also gave them expensive gifts.

Lyera says that, according to her information, Sord is now in Kyiv. But she does not plan to see him.

After the Twitter scandal, four authors announced that they were terminating their contract with the House of Chimera publishing house . All of them said that the publishing house did not pay them royalties.

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