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The U.S. Army general who led the military’s effort to coordinate support for Ukraine left classified documents on a train in Europe and improperly drank too much alcohol one night during a social occasion, according to a report by the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General.
Maj. Gen. Antonio Aguto, now retired, was commander of the Security Assistance Group-Ukraine, based in Wiesbaden, Germany, from 2022 through August 2024.
Aguto was returning from Ukraine to Germany on April 3, 2024 when he had classified maps, which were stored in a cylindrical tube rather than being properly packaged in double-wrapping or a locked container because of their size, the March 12 report states, based on interviews with 33 witnesses.
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The. Maj. Gen. General Antonio Aguto (left) with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at U.S. Army Europe and Africa headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany December 14, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS )
When the train arrived in Poland on the morning of April 4, the travel party departed but left the map tube containing the classified documents on the train.
Despite not being the one designated to carry materials on and off the train, Aguto told investigators he took responsibility for the temporary loss of the maps.
The classified documents were located on the train and delivered to the U.S. Embassy by a Ukrainian train attendant 24 hours after they were noticed missing.
In addition to the missing documents, the report noted an incident on May 13, 2024 when Aguto drank two 500 ml bottles of Chacha, a Georgian brandy containing 40-50% alcohol, during a military event while on a nine-day trip to Ukraine.
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Later that evening, Aguto lost his balance and fell backward in his hotel room, resulting in a concussion, the report said.
The next morning, he fell again and was incoherent during a high-level meeting that day with the then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, and Ukrainian military generals, the IG report said. The witness said Aguto seemed “not himself” and questioned whether he should meet with Blinken.
While en route to the U.S. Embassy and running late, Aguto fell, hitting his jaw on the concrete and tearing his jacket.
Aguto showed up to the meeting looking “completely disheveled” and “out of it,” according to one witness. The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine told investigators that he was worried Aguto had been drugged.
Others reported him slurring words and acting “cognitively diminished.” He was diagnosed with a concussion during a hospital visit.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken appears before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
“His appearance was disheveled, his eyes were bloodshot, he had a large and visible wound on his elbow, he spoke more slowly, he seemed confused, he asked the same question repeatedly, and he frequently returned to the same topic,” the report states. “Later in the afternoon he sought medical attention, which confirmed he had suffered a moderate to severe concussion.”
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Investigators later determined Aguto’s falls were from an “overindulgence” of alcohol. Efforts to reach out to Aguto were not immediately successful.