The day before, Sternenko reported that on October 6, he "was very surprised to learn" that he had been declared wanted. This information was made public by the banned pro-Russian publication "Strana" in Ukraine and the Russian propaganda outlet RT, he noted.
"Supposedly, the Primorsky Territorial Center for Recruitment filed me as wanted, forwarded the document to the police, and the police informed not me, but the Russians and their agents. Wonderful allies. I checked 'Reserve+', and there is no wanted notice, – he wrote, sharing a screenshot from the app. – They allegedly sent the summons to me in Odessa, from where I moved six years ago. I indicated my address in Kyiv in 'Reserve+' back in May; I'm adding a screenshot. Nothing has come here. The summons didn’t go to either my residence or my registered address."
The Odessa Regional Military Commissariat stated that Sternenko "did not disclose a number of important details that significantly change the understanding of the situation."
"In particular, he has already visited the Primorsky RTC and SP, where: 1) he paid an administrative fine for violating military accounting rules; 2) [he was] sent for a military medical commission (VVK). These facts indicate that Mr. Sternenko was aware of the necessity to fulfill his obligations as a conscript and took appropriate measures to regulate his status," the statement said.
Sternenko's "hints" that his being declared wanted is an act of revenge were labeled as unfounded accusations by the RTC, allegedly aimed at "creating a negative impression of the work of the RTC and SP" and garnering sympathy for the blogger.
Sternenko associates this wanted notice with his criticism of the military and demands to reform the system.
On November 8, following the RTC's statement, he wrote on Facebook that this story is a "direct indication" from the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, who allegedly took offense at the implementation of military reform.
"I know this for sure, including when exactly and through whom he gave this directive. By the way, he did it only on the second attempt. The trigger was the stream from October 27, where I stated directly that we are in a situation close to catastrophe due to an inadequate military command system," the blogger claims.
Sternenko labeled the RTC's message about his intentional non-appearance and the payment of the fine as false.
"Let’s break it down. 1. The summons was sent to an address where I do not live, which I did not provide, and which is not my registered address. Intentionally, so that I would not receive it. 2. Being declared wanted because I did not appear for a summons that I could not have received in any way. No one contacted me by phone or mail. On the day of the wanted announcement, I was at the Ministry of Defense. The next day – again. 3. The leak of the wanted information to the Russian agents. Then the Russians got involved themselves," he listed.
"Strana" published copies of the protocol on the violation drawn up by an employee of the Primorsky RTC against Sternenko, as well as the ruling of the same RTC imposing a fine on the blogger.
According to Sternenko, he received a copy of the protocol, but did not receive a copy of the ruling.
"And one more question: did you intentionally provide enemy agents with documents containing my actual residence address or did you just mess up? Because the Russians want to kill me for supplying the army with over 115,000 drones. And such actions jeopardize my life," he added.