Clashes in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka: 13 participants face charges
Law enforcement officers have detained 13 active participants in the unrest that took place in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, Kyiv Oblast, on 2 November. All 13 have now been served with notices of suspicion of committing criminal offences.
Source: Security Service of Ukraine (SSU); National Police of Ukraine
Quote from the SSU: "We detained 13 participants in the unrest… Among them is an 18-year-old native of Zaporizhzhia Oblast who spent four and a half years in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine before moving to Kyiv Oblast several months ago. It was established that he used a sledgehammer to strike a patrol police car and a National Guard bus."
Details: Two other suspects are a 22-year-old unemployed local woman and a 21-year-old builder from Rivne Oblast. According to the SSU, they took part in blocking the road, damaging a National Guard bus and inciting others to inflict damage on emergency and security service vehicles.
Another suspect is a woman who posed as a medical professional and carried a fake ID identifying her as a surgeon.
"The investigation established that the suspect had not obtained any qualifications in higher medical, pharmaceutical or postgraduate education, and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine had not issued her with a doctor's ID," the SSU said.
Seven of those detained have been served with notices of suspicion under Article 114-1.1 (obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations during a special period) and Article 114-2.2 (unauthorised dissemination of information about the movement or deployment of the Armed Forces during martial law) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The seven suspects have also been remanded in custody as a pre-trial restriction.
In addition, law enforcement officers conducted 14 further searches as part of the investigation.
"Based on materials gathered by the National Police, another six suspects have now been served with notices of suspicion under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Article 296.2 [hooliganism] and Article 342.2 [resisting a law enforcement officer]," the SSU reported.
The investigation is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the offences and bring those responsible to justice.
"The perpetrators face up to eight years in prison," the SSU said.
Background:
- On 2 November, Kyiv Oblast police reported unrest outside a house in the village of Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, Kyiv Oblast, where servicemen from a unit of the National Guard of Ukraine were stationed. The crowd had been stirred up by unverified reports alleging that men were being held and tortured inside the house.
- National Guard Commander Oleksandr Pivnenko and senior National Police officials arrived at the scene.
- Military Ombudswoman Olha Reshetylova announced that an investigation had been launched to establish all the circumstances of the incident.
- The 1st Azov Corps of the National Guard commented on the unrest outside the house accommodating National Guard servicemen in Kyiv Oblast. It stated that mobilised personnel and servicemen detained for going absent without leave (AWOL), who were awaiting assignment to military units and the resumption of their service, were housed in the building.
- The crowd gathered at the scene smashed up a National Guard bus. Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the President's Office, arrived late that evening to help resolve the situation.
- Budanov subsequently stated that the woman who had first arrived at the house in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka in an ambulance and alleged that servicemen were being unlawfully detained there had been arrested. She and two other participants in the incident – Tetiana Kiriieva and Viktor Yena – were served notices of suspicion and remanded in custody without the possibility of bail.
- Subsequently, 22-year-old Valeriia Ladyka and 21-year-old Mykola Vasyliuk were also served notices of suspicion for obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations.
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