Azov Corps on Kyiv region incident: Four service members detained after going AWOL had injuries, command overseeing investigation
The National Guard’s 1st Azov Corps said reports of service members being tortured at a unit’s temporary deployment site in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, Kyiv region, were unverified, while four National Guard service members detained after going AWOL had injuries and were sent to hospital.
This was stated in the corps’ official statement on Telegram, Censor.NET reports.
Azov’s statement
According to corps representatives, unverified reports began circulating on social media on 2 November alleging that service members were being tortured at the temporary deployment site of National Guard Military Unit 3121, which is part of the 1st Azov Corps.
As a result, the statement said, civilians began gathering outside the military compound, demanding that mobilised service members on the premises be handed over to them. After their demand was refused, they blocked the compound’s operations and attempted to enter without authorisation.
What the National Guard commander did
National Guard Commander Major General Oleksandr Pivnenko arrived at the scene. According to the corps, he personally escorted relatives of some service members onto the premises and showed them the conditions in which mobilised personnel and service members detained after going absent without leave were being held while awaiting assignment to military units.
Four of those detained after going AWOL had injuries and were therefore sent to hospital for examination. The statement did not specify the causes of their injuries. The National Guard command, together with law enforcement agencies, is overseeing the investigation.
"If unlawful acts of violence are found to have taken place at the military compound, those responsible will receive a just punishment," the statement said.
Azov’s position
The corps said its personnel were the command’s "greatest asset" and that Azov protects service members’ lives and health both on the front line and in the rear.
The command "strongly condemns unlawful actions against National Guard service members" while also warning citizens against obstructing military units’ operations and urging them to trust official statements from the Defence Forces and law enforcement agencies.
Background
- Earlier, reports circulated online alleging that, on 2 November, armed people were holding around 40 hostages in the basement of a house in the village of Petropavlivska Borshchahivka near Kyiv. Some were reportedly in a serious condition, and medical personnel were being denied access.
- According to Kyiv region police, they were contacted by staff from a private ambulance service who were being prevented from reaching one person.
- Police said that reports of people being held unlawfully in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka and of one of them having died were false.
- National Guard Commander Oleksandr Pivnenko confirmed that National Guard service members who had gone absent without leave were in the house, and that four of them required medical attention and were sent to hospital.
- Pivnenko also said that the private house was being used as temporary accommodation for National Guard service members. Mobilised personnel arrived there, underwent processing and checks, and were then sent to a training centre.
- The Office of the Military Ombudsman worked at the scene in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka alongside the National Guard of Ukraine’s command. An inquiry has been ordered.
- The National Guard will order an internal investigation into the incident.
