The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine commented on the information that appeared in the media about the commencement of criminal proceedings by the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI) regarding the organization of the defense of Kyiv airport.

In a statement on Facebook, the General Staff denied the information about sending telegrams to units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with a notification of the start of criminal proceedings.

"The State Bureau of Investigations cannot and does not communicate with military units by sending any telegrams, but only in the manner specified by law – through correspondence. Currently, such correspondence takes place only with the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine solely for the purpose of clarifying the facts and circumstances that took place directly during the defense of Kyiv's Zhuliany airport from February 24, 2022 to April 3, 2022. All the requested information was provided to the SBI in the prescribed manner," the General Staff said.

As for the participation in the defense of Kyiv airport of Major General Serhiy Kryvonos, the General Staff said he was involved in the defense solely as a volunteer and taking into account his combat experience in the defense of Kramatorsk airfield in 2014.

"The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was appointed the head of the defense of Kyiv airport. From February 24, 2022 to the present, Kryvonos S.H. is not in military service and was not called up for military service during mobilization. The documents provided in the publication [circulated in the media] are not grounds for enlistment in military service, including during mobilization. Accordingly, no instructions have been received from the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to dismiss him from military service," the General Staff said.

Subsequently, in the course of stabilizing the situation around Kyiv, Kyiv airport was taken under protection and defense by the units of the Territorial Defense of the Armed Forces, and Kryvonos was released from assisting in the defense of the airport.

"All decisions on the use of forces and means are documented in the prescribed manner, therefore, the information covered in the publication with limited access requires a separate response from law enforcement agencies," the AFU said.

"Thus, the public statements of Serhiy Kryvonos about the influence of the President of Ukraine on the pretrial investigation agencies, his dismissal from military service are untrue and have signs of discrediting the top military-political leadership of the state, which is unacceptable during the legal regime of martial law," the General Staff said.

Earlier, the media reported that the State Bureau of Investigations had begun criminal proceedings against Kryvonos about possible illegal actions committed against the property of the International Airport "Kyiv."