Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Office of the President, has been fined for using Russian while on duty.
As reported by Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language Olena Ivanovska, the official admitted the violation and will be held accountable.
The case concerns a situation in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, where the head of the President’s Office spoke to a 14-year-old boy in Russian.
“In this particular case, all the necessary legal procedures have already been set in motion. State oversight continues in accordance with the established procedure. Communication with the person involved in the incident has taken place — calmly, without unnecessary grandstanding and within the bounds of the law. The fact of the violation has been acknowledged, without attempts to find excuses or switch on defensive reactions. The fine предусмотрений by law will be paid within the specified timeframe,” Ivanovska wrote on her Facebook page.
The ombudsman assured that “the incident is being resolved as it should be in a civilised country — through the law and accountability”.
Events in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka: What We Know
- This month, unrest broke out in the village of Petropavlivska Borshchahivka in Kyiv Region near a house where servicemen from a National Guard unit were located. The building housed mobilised men and several soldiers who had gone absent without leave.
- A crowd quickly gathered, as calls to help “injured” mobilised men were actively spread on social media. It emerged that the call to the police reporting that access to a citizen was being denied was made by a woman who introduced herself as an ambulance medic, but she was not. The aim was to “extract” one of the soldiers who had gone absent without leave.
- The crowd demanded that the mobilised servicemen on the premises be handed over. After being refused, they tried to enter without authorisation, and clashes with law enforcement followed.
- Head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Budanov arrived to deal with the situation. Pivnenko escorted people who said they were relatives of the mobilised men into the building and showed them that there was no “torture chamber”, as claimed on social media. The conflict continued until late at night.
- The woman who posed as an ambulance medic and filed a report alleging people were being tortured in the basement was detained. It emerged that three days before the incident she, together with a driver, had carried out reconnaissance of the area near the house used by the National Guard of Ukraine. The same woman had purchased an ambulance vehicle in advance and dressed in a medic’s uniform.
- Budanov later said there had been outside influence on these events.
- The 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine condemned unlawful actions against National Guard servicemen, while also warning citizens against obstructing the work of military units.