In 2024, American General Antonio Aguto suffered a concussion after an incident during a visit to Kyiv, and also left a tube with confidential materials on the train. This is stated in the report of the Office of Inspector General of the US Department of Defense.
The document refers to the events of April-May 2024, when Aguto headed the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine (SAG-U) in Wiesbaden (Germany), which coordinated the training and support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In particular, on May 13, during a nine-day visit to Kyiv, the general attended an evening event where he drank about one liter of Georgian chacha. Witnesses noted that he was in a state of severe alcohol intoxication - Aguto himself confirmed this during a conversation with investigators.
After dinner, the general fell and hit his head on a wall. That same day, he had a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, but according to eyewitnesses, he acted listless and "was not himself" before it.
Despite offers to cancel the meeting, Aguto refused. Rushing to the US embassy, he fell again, hitting his jaw on the concrete and damaging his clothes. The report states that the general arrived at the meeting "in a disheveled state" and disoriented.
He was later taken to hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion. Investigators concluded that excessive alcohol consumption was the cause of the fall, emphasizing that the general should have assessed the risks and did not receive proper permission for such a large amount of alcohol.
At the same time, Aguto himself did not agree with this, stating that he acted in good faith and had verbal consent to drink alcohol from the commander of the US Army in Europe, general Darryl Williams, given the "cultural peculiarities" of such events.
In addition, on April 4, 2024, while returning from Ukraine to Germany on a charter train, another incident occurred: the general left a tube with secret maps. According to a witness, one of the officers brought the tube onto the train, but no one recorded the moment of its removal.
Aguto learned about its disappearance after arriving at the headquarters in Wiesbaden. The tube was found the next day on the train and returned through employees of the US embassy in Ukraine.
"We have determined that he chose to take the secret maps with him for use during the security assistance mission and entrusted control of the maps to his staff. We have not found sufficient evidence to establish who controlled the secret maps after the travelers boarded the train for the return journey," the Ministry of Defense writes.
In August 2024, Antonio Aguto transferred command of the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine and later left military service.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on the morning of May 14, 2024, it became known that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv.
Blinken said that the US wants to conclude a 10-year security agreement with Ukraine, which will provide for military assistance in various areas.
In addition, Blinken stressed the importance of free and independent elections in Ukraine "when the opportunity arises," as well as the fight against corruption, which is no less a threat to democracy than the russian invasion.
Also, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken played the guitar and sang Neil Young's song Rockin' in the Free World in a Kyiv bar during his unannounced visit on May 14, 2024.
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