Court sentences 2 servicemen who fired grenade launcher at arms exhibition in Chernihiv in 2022 to 5 and 6 years in prison

The court sentenced two servicemen who fired a grenade launcher and injured children at an arms exhibition in Chernihiv in September 2022 to 5 and 6 years in prison. It was reported by the Prosecutor General's Office on Telegram, the Ukrainian News agency reports.

The tragedy occurred in September 2022 at a charity fair where the military demonstrated weapons samples.

The investigation found that one of the servicemen put an anti-tank grenade on the table, which was not even properly registered - no one checked its technical condition. During the demonstration, another serviceman brought the grenade launcher into a combat position and, not realizing the danger, handed it to a child, allowing him to pull the trigger.

A shot was fired, an explosion occurred, five people were injured, four of them were children, one boy was seriously injured.

The court found both servicemen guilty of violating the rules for handling weapons (Part 2 of Article 414 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - violation of the rules for handling weapons and ammunition, which caused grave consequences) and sentenced them to real terms of imprisonment - 5 and 6 years.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, in September 2022, during an arms and ammunition exhibition in Chernihiv 4 children were injured by a grenade launcher, a 2-year-old boy was in serious condition. At the time, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy demanded that law enforcement agencies investigate the explosion as soon as possible and bring the perpetrators to justice.