The Department of Defense Inspector General released a report on Thursday of an investigation of incidents which found that Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Aguto left classified maps on a train in Europe, losing control of the information for 24 hours, and drank Ukrainian brandy so heavily he fell three times, and was incoherent and confused during a briefing the following morning. Aguto was found to have suffered a concussion.
The incidents occurred between April and May 2024.
Aguto, then a three-star general, retired in May 2024 as a two-star general.
The Army general oversaw the command that coordinated, trained and equipped Ukraine’s military. The general brought along a tube of classified maps on a trip from Germany to Ukraine. The general and a witness testified that the maps were not packaged as they normally would be because of their size, and were used by the general frequently to brief officials “on the status of what’s going on in Ukraine, uh, which is my job,” Aguto said.
On May 13, 2024, during a nearly six-hour dinner, a military engagement, a witness said Aguto drank two bottles of Chacha “throughout the course of the night.” Chacha is a Georgian brandy containing 40-50% alcohol.
Following the dinner, two witnesses reported seeing Aguto fall and hit the back of his head on the wall. Sometime later that night or in the early morning, Aguto fell again and hit his forehead, according to the report.
Aguto said he could not remember the circumstances of the falls, but said in the morning after he felt ill, had a headache and was extremely tired. He also told the IG that he felt a little “woozy,” “dizzy,” confused, and found it “really hard to focus.”
The third fall happened en route to the U.S. Embassy, tearing his jacket and hitting his jaw. A regional security officer told the inspector general’s office that although Aguto knew him, he “looked at him like he barely knew him” and also noticed the Army general had a “little bit of [the] smell of alcohol.”
Aguto later told investigators that he had received verbal permission from a superior to have more than two drinks, in light of the “cultural significance” of drinking at such events.
Read more at: Stars and Stripes, and The Hill