National Guard Commander denies beating of soldiers at building in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka

Official position on the incident

Oleksiy Pivenko, Commander of the National Guard of Ukraine, issued a statement refuting information about the beating of servicemen who were held in a building in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka. He emphasised that no complaints from the fighters regarding detention conditions had been received, and that the structure was used as a temporary deployment point.

Health status and medical care

According to Pivenko, four injured soldiers were being prepared for hospitalisation. In response to questions about why they had not been sent to a medical facility earlier, the commander explained that military units have their own medical services. Fighters are referred to hospitals only when more serious assistance is required.

Purpose of the building and personnel status

Pivenko clarified that the servicemen were at the facility awaiting basic military training (BMT). He also noted that all soldiers released from the building yesterday subsequently returned to their units.

Alternative versions and video

A video is circulating online in which a man, who identified himself as Artur, describes events inside the premises. He claims that the mobilised men themselves locked one of the men in the room because he was using drugs and displaying aggression. According to him, it was during this fight that the injured man sustained the bruises that later appeared in the video.

Analysis of discrepancies in versions

It is worth noting that neither Pivenko nor other National Guard representatives mentioned that one of the mobilised men or servicemen who had deserted their unit had been beaten in a fight with fellow servicemen. However, the commander acknowledges health issues among four soldiers. If the cause of these conditions had been an attack by an unstable fighter, the command would likely not have overlooked this fact.