Kateryna Polishchuk, known by her call sign “Ptashka,” a paramedic and Azovstal defender, has appealed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with complaints about the commander of the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Bohdan Shevchuk. According to her, the commander showed inhumane treatment of his subordinates.
Kateryna Polishchuk noted that for more than a year, as a paramedic, she was in the combat zone with the 59th Yakov Handziuk Motorized Rifle Brigade. She emphasized that during their cooperation, the brigade was commanded by Vadym Olegovich Sukharevskyi and Maksym Oleksandrovych Stetsenko, who were professionals in their field.
However, as the servicewoman noted, due to official decisions and "family ties" of the top military leadership, Bohdan Shevchuk was appointed commander of the 59th Motorized Rifle Brigade in April 2024. "Since thousands of servicemen still remain to perform combat missions in the combat zone under the leadership of Shevchuk, I ask you, Mr. Supreme Commander-in-Chief, to pay attention and conduct an official check on the facts of criminal orders, deliberate negligence, disregard for the life and health of personnel, actions that led to the death of a large number of servicemen, including those from high leadership positions, selfishness, blind careerism, the removal of all "dissenting" commanders, the suppression of fighting spirit and the humiliation of personnel by complete indifference to the main goal of the servicemen and him, as a commander, in the war with the enemy," she emphasized.
Kateryna emphasized that due to Shevchuk's inhuman and unprofessional attitude, she was forced to stop cooperating with this brigade. However, according to her, not all servicemen have the opportunity to leave the brigade due to criminal orders that are aimed only at "obtaining additional stars for this person.".
“I ask you to take measures and remove from making important military decisions people who are not interested in preserving personnel, completing tasks, and winning. Military honor and the honor of an officer are not empty words. At least, they should not be like that,” she added.
