Clashes near National Guard unit outside Kyiv: four servicemen injured, investigation launched

Clashes broke out on the evening of 2 November outside a private house in the village of Petropavlivska Borshchahivka in Kyiv region, and law enforcement officers at the scene used tear gas.

Kyiv regional police said servicemen of one of the National Guard's units were inside the building. The commander of Ukraine's National Guard, General Pivnenko, was also at the scene of the clashes. He said four servicemen who needed medical assistance had been brought out of "the military compound" and taken to hospital.

The National Guard's 1st Azov Corps said the events took place on the grounds of a temporary deployment point of military unit 3121, which belongs to the corps. According to the military, four servicemen detained after leaving their unit without authorisation had injuries and were sent to a military hospital for examination. The corps said that if unlawful violent actions are established, "the guilty will face fair punishment".

The head of Ukraine's Interior Ministry, Vyhivskyi, ordered an internal investigation into the events in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka. The investigation will also examine the conditions in which the servicemen were held in the building. The minister confirmed that the State Bureau of Investigation and the Office of the Military Ombudsman were working at the scene, and that the building had been used by servicemen of one of the National Guard's units.

Among those who gathered at the scene were people alleging that servicemen had been tortured in the building. Official bodies have not announced any findings on the torture allegations; the investigation is ongoing.

Petropavlivska Borshchahivka is a village in Bucha district of Kyiv region, adjoining the western boundary of the capital, Kyiv. Cases of servicemen leaving their units without authorisation have been one of the most debated issues in Ukraine during the war with Russia.