What happened in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, and what do we know about those who were injured? Azov answers five key questions

On 2 November, clashes broke out in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, a village on the outskirts of Kyiv. It all began with a specific demand from the crowd: the release of servicemen from a building that, it turned out, was a temporary deployment base for the 1st Azov Corps of Ukraine's National Guard.

The incident began when an ambulance arrived and blocked the gates to the building's grounds. A woman dressed as a doctor started livestreaming on social media, urging viewers to come to the site because, she claimed, people were being tortured in the basement. Local residents began to gather there, along with up to 20 teenagers, who made up much of the crowd to start with.

The situation escalated to the point where the mob attempted to storm the building. People were spraying tear gas and pepper spray at National Guard personnel and throwing stones at their heads. Sixteen National Guard servicemen were injured as a result.

At one point during the evening, it seemed the conflict was about to be resolved. National Guard Commander Oleksandr Pivnenko and Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the President's Office, arrived at the scene. Some time later, the servicemen were brought out of the building, as the crowd had demanded. The mobilised soldiers were supposed to be taken by bus to another deployment point, as it was no longer safe for them to stay in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka – the location had been exposed to the Russians. But the clashes only intensified.

"As soon as the guys [the mobilised soldiers – ed.] came through the gates, people in the crowd started pulling them in different directions," said Pavlo Kurchenko, commander of the 52nd "Forge" International Assault Regiment, whose soldiers were stationed in the building in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka. "Some managed to get onto the bus, the doors closed, and the vehicle moved off. But people continued to attack the bus, smashing windows.

The mobilised servicemen themselves were shocked because the crowd had started off by demanding their release, but then began committing unlawful acts against those very same men. They were sprayed with tear gas and attacked with stones and sticks."

The servicemen eventually managed to get off the bus and disperse into the crowd. Later, once order had been restored outside the building, most of the mobilised soldiers returned to the temporary deployment point of their own accord during the night, the commander stressed. Everyone who had left returned voluntarily.

So what was really going on inside the building? What is known about those who were injured? And who might have been behind the organisation of the high-profile confrontation with Azov?

To answer five key questions about the clashes in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, Ukrainska Pravda spoke to Pavlo "Kil" Kurchenko, commander of Military Unit 3121 of the 1st Azov Corps of Ukraine's National Guard, which oversees the temporary deployment point in question.

Kurchenko told us that 26 mobilised servicemen were staying in the building, and only two of them had been returned to service after going absent without leave (AWOL). Some members of the unit's personnel were also living there.

Valentyn Dziubenko, an officer with the Strategic Communications Department of the 1st Azov Corps, explained that it is standard practice for mobilised servicemen to be accommodated in ordinary rented houses, not only in the National Guard but across all units of Ukraine's defence forces. Small groups of personnel are housed in various locations, primarily for security reasons.

"It's important to understand that this is how the entire military operates. Large numbers of servicemen are not stationed in a single location – especially not at a military base whose location is known to the enemy," Dziubenko said.

During the clashes outside the building, Ukrainska Pravda journalists spoke to local residents who said that over the last two weeks or so, stories had been appearing in local group chats expressing dissatisfaction about what was happening in the street where the confrontation later erupted.

Kurchenko insisted, however, that relations between the servicemen and their neighbours had been positive and there had never been any problems. He added that they had not interacted with other local residents.

"As instructed, we all wore civilian clothes when we were out and tried to keep as low a profile as possible. Our personnel only went out [into the street – ed.] after dark. We try to keep our personnel safe, move around discreetly and avoid drawing attention to ourselves," Kurchenko explained.

What is known about the four injured servicemen, and how did they sustain their injuries?

The woman posing as a doctor, Valentyna Moloda, claimed during her livestream that "a lot of people had been beaten" inside the building and one had even "died". However, once she was allowed inside, it transpired that they were all alive. Four mobilised servicemen had sustained injuries. They were later brought out of the building and taken to a National Guard medical facility. Kurchenko explained what is known about each of them and how they had sustained their injuries.

Andrii Kuleshov

According to the commander, Kuleshov was being held in the building "in quarantine to readjust after going AWOL". He had previously served in the National Guard. After being assigned by a military enlistment office, he was sent to the 52nd "Forge" International Assault Regiment, part of the 1st Azov Corps of the National Guard. It was from this unit that he deserted, leaving without authorisation, and he was subsequently placed on a wanted list.

Servicemen from the regiment tracked Kuleshov down at his home in Kyiv, detained him, and took him to the temporary deployment point in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka.

"There were certain questions regarding him, as his details appear on the Myrotvorets website," Kurchenko said. "That was because he illegally crossed the border between Ukraine and the Russian puppet republics of the "LPR/DPR" multiple times between 2015 and 2021. His brother still lives in territory outside Ukrainian government control, in the so-called 'Donetsk People's Republic'." Myrotvorets (meaning "Peacemaker") is a Ukrainian website and non-governmental database that publishes personal information about individuals considered by its creators to be "enemies of Ukraine".

The "Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics" are self-proclaimed unrecognised Russian-backed quasi-state formations in Ukraine's Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts respectively.

Kuleshov's mother also permanently resides in the self-proclaimed "DPR", but is currently staying temporarily in Ukrainian government-controlled territory. She says she came to receive medical treatment and intends to return to the pseudo-republic afterwards.

Ivan Yareshko

Yareshko is the mobilised serviceman who was reportedly under the influence of drugs and attacked other people in the building. Another mobilised soldier who witnessed his aggressive behaviour described an incident in a video.

Video of a mobilised serviceman describing the man on drugs:

Commander Kurchenko explained that Yareshko had been mobilised on 30 October and transferred to Petropavlivska Borshchahivka. He was already behaving erratically when he arrived. A rapid drug test was carried out at the site, which showed that narcotic substances were present in his urine.

"He [Yareshko – ed.] then attempted to attack the medical worker from our unit who was administering the test. He also behaved aggressively towards other servicemen and was constantly disturbing them, so he was isolated in a separate room. Once there, he began engaging in behaviour consistent with self-harm," Kurchenko said.

Oleksandr Pavliuchenko

Pavliuchenko had been mobilised and sent to a military unit for basic training. According to Commander Kurchenko, he injured his back while going down to a shelter during an air raid.

Pavliuchenko was diagnosed with a healed fracture of the ninth thoracic vertebra without displacement at Lutsk City Clinical Hospital and underwent treatment there. Kurchenko said the serviceman frequently violated the hospital's rules of conduct, including by drinking alcohol.

"Due to severe alcohol intoxication and his inappropriate behaviour – he was urinating in the hospital ward – he was discharged against his will and brought to this temporary deployment point [in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka – ed.]. His hospital discharge summary stated that he needed to remain lying down," Kurchenko said.

The commander maintains that the National Guard followed the doctors' advice and that Pavliuchenko was supposed to continue treatment at his permanent deployment point. Pavliuchenko was prescribed medication and placed under the supervision of the unit's medic. No further serious health complications were reported.

Oleksandr Perminov

The commander does not consider Perminov to be one of the injured servicemen, as he was in the building for a different reason. At one military facility, Perminov had encouraged others to desert. He subsequently went AWOL himself, after which he was detained by military personnel.

"To prevent further incidents of personnel being encouraged to go AWOL, he was transferred to another temporary deployment point – namely Petropavlivska Borshchahivka," Kurchenko explained.

The captain added that the unit has official documentation that corroborates the information provided to Ukrainska Pravda regarding all four servicemen. The 1st Azov Corps also assured Ukrainska Pravda that all four men are currently doing well and are in good health. Internal investigations concerning them have already been launched.

Why did the injured servicemen get into the fake ambulance?

At the building in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, the National Guard personnel reached an agreement with Valentyna Moloda, the woman who had claimed to be a doctor. She was permitted to take the four injured servicemen out of the building, but on two conditions: the men had to be taken to a National Guard medical facility, and they had to be accompanied by the deputy National Guard commander responsible for personnel affairs.

"They [the four injured servicemen – ed.] got into her 'ambulance'. An ambulance and medics from the 1st Azov Corps of the National Guard were also at the scene, but the crew was trapped inside the building. They were unable to accompany the servicemen," Kurchenko said.

Who was behind the unrest?

According to Kurchenko, the unrest in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka started because of one of the four injured servicemen, Andrii Kuleshov, whose relatives had been doing their utmost to get him out of military service.

Before the clashes, the commander said, Kuleshov's mother had been trying to "make a deal" to secure her son's release. She had visited the temporary deployment point and asked for some belongings to be passed on to him. According to Kurchenko, she then offered one of his servicemen a bribe. He refused it and simply handed the belongings over to Kuleshov.

"I don't remember the exact amount of the bribe, but a figure of around US$7,000 was mentioned," the commander said.

Who stands to benefit from the scandal?

The investigation is ongoing, so Azov is wary of drawing conclusions. However, Kurchenko stressed that the incident in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka was very carefully planned and executed. He suggested that Russia may have been involved.

After the first livestreams were filmed outside the building, Azov's Strategic Communications Department began monitoring various posts on anonymous Telegram channels with large numbers of subscribers. The analysis suggested that an entire wave of content appeared to have been highly coordinated and planned in advance.

"We continue to identify large numbers of bots, on Threads or in Facebook comments for example, spreading typical Russian propaganda narratives about 'abuses by enlistment offices' and so on," Dziubenko said. "It all looks very consistent and systematically organised. We know perfectly well who stands to gain from attempts to discredit the Ukrainian military and turn Ukrainian citizens against servicemen. The only beneficiary of this situation is our enemy – the Russian Federation. It can't defeat us on the battlefield, so it resorts to special operations of this kind, which unfortunately sometimes succeed."

The Strategic Communications Department also pointed out that long before the clashes, the woman posing as a doctor who was the central figure in the confrontation had been active on social media, calling for Ukraine's capitulation and an end to mobilisation into Ukraine's defence forces.

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The 1st Azov Corps of Ukraine's National Guard stresses that it considers any form of physical or psychological pressure on personnel – let alone torture – unacceptable, regardless of how long a person has been serving in the military or whether they have gone AWOL.

"People who have served or are still serving in the unit, and people who are close to Azov, know this very well. For the command, its personnel are its greatest asset. This has always been the case throughout the unit's history," Dziubenko concluded.

There is currently no evidence that the campaign in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka was specifically targeted against Azov, Ukraine's most combat-capable military unit. But the 1st Corps is not ruling it out. After all, Azov has been one of the main targets of Russian propaganda since 2014.

Natalia Bodnar, Tetiana Kryvishyn, Ukrainska Pravda

Translated by Myroslava Zavadska

Edited by Teresa Pearce