NGU troops held in house in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka after going AWOL – Pivnenko. VIDEO
National Guard of Ukraine (NGU) Commander Oleksandr Pivnenko arrived in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka in the Kyiv region and confirmed that servicemen apprehended after going absent without leave were in the house outside which a crowd had gathered. Four of them were hospitalised.
He made these remarks in comments to the media, as reported by Censor.NET.
Warning! The video contains strong language!
Details
Pivnenko said that four servicemen had been hospitalised. The other men in the house are also National Guard servicemen. All had been brought back after going absent without leave.
"The servicemen defending our Ukraine mean everything to us. And any mistreatment of them is impossible. We have sent four servicemen who need medical attention to the hospital. These are servicemen who were caught following a sweep and returned to their units," the commander said.
People gathered outside the house are asking why those being held inside have bruises and signs of beatings and are demanding that everyone be released.
"Who gave you the right to torture people? Russian aggression does not give you the right to torture people," one man shouted at Pivnenko.
On the house, mobilised personnel and the investigation
Pivnenko also said that the private house was being used as a temporary accommodation site for National Guard servicemen. Mobilised personnel arrived there, underwent processing and checks, and were then sent to a training centre.
He maintains that the "Khartiia" unit has no connection to this incident.
Pivnenko also said that he had seen another 18 servicemen inside who, according to him, were all right. No one is "pressuring" them, and they are speaking with their families by phone.
He also said he was personally overseeing the internal investigation. The commander and medics permanently stationed at the site will be questioned. If violations by National Guard personnel are established, those responsible will be punished. The commander promised to make decisions on the matter personally.
Separately, the commander acknowledged that the accommodation site urgently needed to be relocated because "a Russian missile could hit it" now. He also cited security considerations to explain the confiscation of servicemen’s phones: according to him, a large number of devices could reveal the site’s location.
Addressing the crowd, the commander urged people not to inflame the situation, break down doors or attempt to force their way onto the premises of a military facility.
Background
- Earlier, reports circulated online alleging that armed individuals were holding around 40 hostages in the basement of a house in the village of Petropavlivska Borshchahivka near Kyiv. Some were reportedly in serious condition, and medics were being denied access to them.
- According to Kyiv region police, a private ambulance crew contacted them after being prevented from reaching one person.
- Police said that reports of people being unlawfully detained in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka and of one of them having died were untrue.
