Kyrylo Budanov, head of the President’s Office, called yesterday’s events in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka unacceptable, where a crowd tried to get into a building housing National Guard servicemen, after which an attack on a police vehicle began. He stressed that this harms Ukrainians’ unity.
Budanov, who went to the scene of the conflict yesterday to clarify the circumstances, said that law enforcement and authorised bodies would establish an objective and complete picture of events and bring those responsible to justice. The work has already begun.
“Right now we are working out all the necessary decisions with the security bloc for an adequate response and to prevent provocations. I urge all Ukrainians always to be guided by the interests of the nation and the state when making any decisions and resolving conflict situations,” he said.
What happened in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka?
On 2 November, police received a report about people being held illegally in the basement of a house. Officers arrived at the scene and then said that this report, as well as information about fatalities, did not correspond to reality.
The call was made by a woman who introduced herself as a medic with a private ambulance service from Mykolaiv Region. Journalists from “Slidstvo.Info” found that the clinic she claimed to own has not been operating since 2023, and the ambulance vehicle she arrived in was sold two years ago. The woman’s name is Valentyna Moloda and in fact she owns an aesthetic surgery clinic. She claimed that dozens of people were being held in the basement of the house and that there were injured people. This was widely circulated on social media and, as a result, a crowd gathered outside the house, with some trying to get inside.
After hours of establishing the circumstances of the incident, it emerged that the building was being used by National Guard servicemen. The people being held there included both recently mobilised individuals and those who had gone absent without leave. It was decided to take four servicemen who had been absent without leave to a medical facility for examination, as they had injuries.
The men who were there told journalists in comments that they had not been beaten. In total, 14 people were in the building.
Despite attempts to defuse the situation, the crowd behaved aggressively. One of the men swore at Commander Pivnenko and filmed it on video.