Nothing critical found at deployment site in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, says Pivnenko

Pivnenko says no critical issues found at military deployment site

National Guard Commander Oleksandr Pivnenko said the building in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka served as a temporary deployment site for military personnel. According to him, after four servicemen were released, the crowd demanded the release of another 17 soldiers who were preparing for basic military training.

He told journalists this, Censor.NET reports.

What is known?

According to him, nothing critical was found upon entering the building.

"We brought in representatives of the Military Ombudsman, the State Bureau of Investigation, and others, and showed them that this was a temporary deployment site. There are many such facilities across the country," Pivnenko said.

"Later, we released four servicemen and opened a passage for them. But our fellow citizens wanted another 17 servicemen released. These were ordinary servicemen who were due to begin basic military training. They were spoken to, and no one expressed any outrage or anything like that. When we released them, they simply returned to their military unit.

Why was this necessary? Why provoke our servicemen? That is the question. This will be investigated and given a legal assessment," the commander added

Pivnenko was also asked why the injured servicemen were being held there rather than in a medical facility.

He replied that every military unit has its own medical services. Had they needed more medical assistance, they would have been taken to medical facilities. He also promised to examine the matter thoroughly.

Background

Earlier, reports circulated online claiming that on 2 November in the village of Petropavlivska Borshchahivka near Kyiv, armed men were allegedly holding around 40 hostages in the basement of one of the houses, some of whom were in a serious condition, and were preventing medics from reaching them.
According to the Kyiv Regional Police, they were contacted by staff from a private ambulance service who were prevented from reaching one person.
The police stated that reports claiming people were being unlawfully detained in the village of Petropavlivska Borshchahivka and that one of them had died were untrue.
The Commander of the National Guard, Oleksandr Pivnenko, confirmed that National Guard servicemen were in the house after leaving their unit without authorisation, and that four of them required medical attention and were taken to hospital.
Pivnenko also explained that the private house was being used as a temporary accommodation centre for National Guard personnel. Mobilised personnel arrived there, underwent registration and checks, after which they were sent to a training centre.
When asked about a man with a broken spine, National Guard press officer Ruslan Muzychuk replied that this was not true: all four had walked to the ambulance under their own steam.
The Office of the Military Ombudsman was present at the scene in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka alongside the command of the National Guard of Ukraine. An investigation has been ordered.
The National Guard will launch an internal investigation into this incident.
Tensions remained high well into the night. People threw stones at the building’s windows, set off smoke bombs and firecrackers, damaged the building’s brick wall, smashed the bus and attempted to overturn it.
The Head of the President’s Office, Kyrylo Budanov, arrived at the scene in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka in the Kyiv region.
Footage circulated on social media showing a teenage boy being led out of the building, wrapped in a thermal blanket. Budanov spoke to him personally – the boy said he was 14 years old and had come to the scene with his friends. The Head of the Presidential Office rang the boy’s sister to ask her to come and collect him.
However, at around 10.30 pm, a group of people arrived at the scene and began pushing those present aside. A mass brawl broke out, and the sound of gunshots was heard, according to media reports. There were casualties amongst those present, and Budanov urged them to contact the police.