Four servicemen say they were beaten at National Guard deployment site in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka

Four servicemen report beatings at National Guard site near Kyiv — Photo: REUTERS / Stringer

Four servicemen told the Office of the Military Ombudsman that they had been beaten at a temporary deployment site of a National Guard military unit in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, Kyiv region, where clashes took place on November 2.

Valerii Kryvonos, director of the Department for Complaints Review and Inspections at the Office of the Military Ombudsman, said this on November 13 at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada's Temporary Investigative Commission on violations in the defense sector and breaches of anti-corruption legislation, Censor.NET reports.

Details of the complaints

According to Kryvonos, four servicemen contacted the Office to report beatings at the temporary deployment site in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka.

Earlier, Military Ombudsman Olha Reshetylova reported that the Office had been aware of a private house in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka used as a temporary deployment site by a National Guard military unit. According to her, 16 mobilized servicemen were staying there while awaiting departure for basic general military training. Four others needed medical care; two of them had been brought back after going AWOL.

The Office learned about the house through one of the servicemen staying there. In October, his lawyer contacted the ombudsman and reported that the man was not receiving the medical care he needed at the military unit.

The case of the serviceman denied medical care

According to Kryvonos, an inspection established that the man had been mobilized and deemed fit for service. However, he went AWOL, subsequently sought medical attention and underwent surgery.

"Later, while at home, he was detained by representatives of the unit. He was taken to the temporary deployment site and remained there with this stoma. He was not receiving inpatient treatment but was recovering at home after surgery. The Office of the Military Ombudsman was communicating with the lawyer and the unit; at that point, there was no mention of violence. The issue was that this serviceman was at the military unit and needed medical care. Following our intervention, he did receive medical care," Kryvonos said.

"I don't know whether they have been entered. We sent the State Bureau of Investigation a report specifically concerning these statements," Kryvonos added when asked whether these incidents had been entered into the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations (URPI).

Situation in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka

Earlier, reports had circulated online claiming that on 2 November, in the village of Petropavlivska Borshchahivka near Kyiv, allegedly armed men were holding around 40 hostages in the basement of one of the houses, some of whom were in a serious condition, and were preventing medical staff from reaching them.
According to the Kyiv Regional Police, they were contacted by staff from a private ambulance service who had been 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 collect him.
However, at around 10.30 pm, a group of people arrived at the scene and began pushing those present. A mass brawl broke out, and the sound of gunshots was heard, according to media reports. There were casualties among those present, and Budanov urged them to contact the police.
Budanov, who had visited the scene of the clashes the previous day, announced on 3 November that measures had been drawn up to ensure an appropriate response to the events in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka and to prevent further provocations.
On 3 November, the Security Service of Ukraine (
SSU)
stated that it had identified and established the identities of around 100 people who were present at the scene of the disturbances on 2 November in the village of Petropavlivska Borshchahivka in the Kyiv region and who had actively participated in organising them.
The SSU has opened criminal proceedings in three separate cases.
The State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) has opened a case concerning the abuse of authority or official powers by military personnel.
On 4 November, the court imposed a preventive measure on Valentyna Moloda, who was the first to arrive at the scene of the protests in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka dressed as a paramedic and who is suspected of obstructing the activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Security Service detained and served notices of suspicion on three organisers of the riots.
The Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv remanded Tetiana Kireeva in custody without the right to bail. She is suspected of involvement in an attempt to remove her sister’s husband from the military deployment site in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka under the guise of an ‘emergency evacuation’ by ambulance.
On 5 November, the Solomianskyi District Court in Kyiv imposed a preventive measure on another individual implicated in the clashes in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, Viktor Yena.