‘He probably didn’t believe they were live munitions’

Questions abound after top Ukrainian military aide killed by grenade he received for his birthday

On Monday, top Ukrainian military aide Major Hennadii Chastiakov was killed in his own home when he detonated a grenade that a colleague had given him for his birthday. A Ukrainian Interior Ministry representative says that all evidence points to the idea that the explosion was an accident, but state investigators have launched a criminal investigation into the incident. Meduza explains what we know so far about the circumstances surrounding Chastiakov’s death.

Major Hennadii Chastiakov, an aide to Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, has been killed by a grenade in his home in the Kyiv region. According to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, the incident occurred “as a result of careless handling of ammunition” on the evening of November 6, the officer’s 39th birthday. Chastiakov’s 13-year-old son has been hospitalized with severe injuries, while his 11-year-old daughter was lightly wounded.

General Zaluzhnyi expressed his condolences on Telegram. “Unspeakable pain and a severe loss for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and for myself personally,” he wrote. “One of his gifts contained an unidentified explosive device.”

According to his wife, Chastiakov brought home a gift bag containing a bottle of alcohol and shot glasses shaped like grenades. She reportedly told law enforcement that the explosion occurred while he was opening the bag.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko shared additional details about the incident on Telegram, writing that Chastiakov “returned home from work with gifts from his colleagues and started to show them to his family.” After picking up a gift box with grenades inside, according to Klymenko, Chastiakov took out one of the “new Western-style grenades” and started “demonstrating” it to his son. “At first, his son took the weapon in his hands and started twisting the ring. Then the serviceman took the grenade from the child and pulled the ring, setting off the tragic explosion,” Klymenko said.

According to Klymenko, five undetonated grenades of the same type as the one that killed Chastiakov were found in his home after the explosion. Police have identified the colleague who gave Chastiakov the gift package and searched his office, where they found two more grenades.

Ukrainian Interior Ministry representative Mariana Reva said that the soldier who gave the grenades to Chastiakov warned him that they were live munitions. “The deceased probably didn’t believe this,” she said in an interview with Radio Svoboda, not revealing the name of the gift giver. According to Reva, all of the available evidence indicates that Chastiakov’s death was an accident.

Meanwhile, the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Defense Issues in Central Ukraine has launched a criminal investigation into the explosion under the country’s laws on premeditated murder and illegal handling of weapons. The agency has not revealed whether any suspects have been detained in connection with the case.