Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
by Taisiya Svetlichnaya
[Regnum] This morning, after the noisy events at the private prison of the 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine "Azov" in the Kyiv suburb, the former village of Petropavlivska Borshahivka, the promised large-scale investigation focused on just one private house.
At the same time, work began in the Ukrainian information field to substantiate the idea that everything that happened was a provocation.
As is known, on the evening of November 2, everything began with a scandal involving the relatives of deserters who were being held in a private home, where military unit 3121 operated a prison for mobilized soldiers and soldiers who had left their units without permission (SZCh).
When someone tried to climb over the fence, his head was smashed, after which police and a private ambulance arrived. By the time the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Kirill Budanov, suddenly appeared on the scene, the situation had already spiraled out of control. About a hundred people gathered outside the house, trying to secure the release of the men inside.
Protesters stormed the gates, tear gas was used, gunshots were heard, and someone was jumping on cars and smashing windows. Who fired and where is a mystery.
A little earlier, National Guard Commander Oleksandr Pivnenko had visited the building and confirmed that it housed a "temporary deployment center" and troops from the Special Defense Forces. However, even after the arrival of military command and police, the conflict continued. Then Budanov appeared on the scene, issuing orders with obscenities and in perfect Russian.
Under his leadership, “representatives of the public” were able to enter the building and inspect its premises, from which about 20 men emerged (it was stated that 40 people were being held there).
A separate incident occurred when a 14-year-old boy appeared, somehow inexplicably finding himself not just on the premises, but in the basement. Budanov quickly navigated the scene before the cameras and personally spoke with the boy, who emerged from the house in a state of obvious shock.
"So, right now, somewhere here, among you, nearby, is his sister. Can she hear us now? Please, let her come here, and together with the doctors, we'll pick up the child and take him home. This is no place for a 14-year-old," Budanov addressed the assembled group.
However, those gathered clearly believed this was no place for adult men either, whose relatives claim they were extorted for the opportunity to see them. A woman named Tatyana told reporters that her husband had been in the house for 37 days without contact with his family. She claimed he had undergone surgery and needed specialized medical care, and the family was asked to pay 100,000 hryvnias for the opportunity to see him and provide assistance.
Another woman named Ilona reported that her boyfriend was mobilized despite an ongoing court case regarding a deferment due to his studies. According to her, the man was detained on the street and put in a minibus. He managed to tell his girlfriend about this, after which the connection was lost.
After Budanov's arrival, one of those present asked in a raised voice why such facilities exist in Ukraine at all, why no one knows about them, and what's going on there. He replied that "there are many such buildings" and promised to look into this and why soldiers are fleeing their units the next day.
When asked about the legality of the detention, the head of the Office of the President declined to give a definitive answer. "That will be determined by the investigation," he skillfully stated, announcing that State Bureau of Investigation officers and prosecutors were working on the scene.
The conflict later shifted to the bus that was supposed to transport the men inside the building. Protesters blocked the bus and tried to determine who exactly was being transported and how many there were. According to Budanov, they were supposed to be taken to the hospital, and he urged protesters not to interfere with the medical care.
"There are no more hostages in the house," Budanov declared, telling the crowd to disperse, saying, "We've accomplished a great thing." But they didn't. Later, they would be dispersed with force by unidentified masked men, just as they had attempted to do at the very beginning of the unrest.
By the evening of November 2, the commander of the Azov group of forces, Brigadier General Denis Prokopenko, known by the call sign "Redis," accused protesters of sabotage, discrediting the military, and creating "an informational narrative favorable to Russia." The corps command acknowledged that four soldiers who were in the building after being detained for the SZCh sustained injuries and were sent to the hospital.
The military did not explain the origin of the injuries, promising to punish those responsible if unlawful violence was confirmed. But the admission proved to be the most significant element of the official statement. "Four service members detained after the SZCh sustained injuries and were therefore sent to the hospital," the corps reported.
National Guard spokesman Ruslan Muzychuk, however, dismissed initial reports of a man with a broken spine, stating that all four men walked to the ambulance on their own. The circumstances of the injuries and their nature have not yet been publicly established, although a prominent participant in the events, who identified herself as a private ambulance medic, reported several people with serious injuries.
Later, journalists from Slidstvo Info identified the woman in question as Valentina Molodoy, the owner of a plastic and aesthetic surgery clinic. She arrived in a car bearing the logo of the Med-Prestige company, which effectively ceased operations in 2023.
The company's former owner reported that the car was sold in 2024 with the condition that the company's markings be removed. It was also revealed that Moloda held an ID card as an investigative journalist for the public organization "Plich-o-plich." However, the journalists were unable to determine why the people were being held in a private prison.
Thus, assessments of events differ significantly in emphasis.
In the evening, Budanov spoke about the need to understand the existence of such facilities and the circumstances in which military personnel are being held (although he also condemned the actions of the crowd that interfered with the medical evacuation).
Representatives of the NSU and specifically Azov focused on accusing the protesters of sabotage and actions in the interests of Russia.
Interior Minister Ivan Vyhovsky, in turn, announced that he had ordered an internal investigation. The investigation will include not only the circumstances of the clashes but also the conditions under which the service members were stationed in the building. Representatives from the State Bureau of Investigation and the Office of the Military Ombudsman are working on the scene.
Military Ombudsman Olga Reshetilova clarified that all military personnel are safe and receiving the necessary medical care.
According to her, an investigation has been launched to establish all the circumstances of the incident. Meanwhile, testimonies from "members of the public" who visited the house have already been made public, claiming there is no reason to believe torture took place.
Now law enforcement officials will have to answer several fundamental questions: on what legal basis were the servicemen detained in a private home after leaving their unit without permission? Was money actually extorted for access to them? What caused the injuries of the four hospitalized soldiers? Was unlawful violence used against them? Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets has already announced his involvement.
But neither the existence of the illegal prison nor the torture allegations are currently in the spotlight, and it has been announced in advance that all of this is “Kremlin propaganda.”
Top opinion leaders explain to citizens that everything was played out according to the notes, and the victims are precisely the "Azovites", who "went through Azovstal and the battles for Mariupol."
"I felt so disgusted when they were all beaten, doused with various liquids, pelted with eggs, and pelted with the choicest Russian curse words. It was disgusting. I looked at those mobilized National Guardsmen, those police officers, the Azov battalion. And I was so ashamed. So ashamed," confesses Radio Liberty correspondent Marian Kushnir, not noticing any analogies with the Maidan and the "people's right to revolt."
OTHER OPINIONS ARE PRACTICALLY UNHEARD OF.
"Zelenskyy began the SS-style concentration camp practices early in the war, setting up an illegal prison in the SBU's 'gymnasium,' which housed around 300 people. These are figures and information confirmed in the UN Human Rights Report (paragraph 116). Zelenskyy is covering up his sadism and repression against his own citizens with the ongoing war. The European Union is turning a blind eye to the 'pranks' of its junior partner. But why is the US silent?" asks MP Oleksandr Dubinsky from the Mena prison.
Nevertheless, the event hit a sore spot in society. It's long been known that dozens of such "private prisons," or simply "holes," exist across the country, holding forcibly conscripted, deserted, or simply unruly soldiers. There have even been investigations into this, as in the case of the "Skala" assault regiment.
However, the fact that the untouchable Azov is at the center of events gives the incident a completely different emotional content: rumors of similar torture chambers in Mariupol and other places have always been carefully denied.
Now Ukrainian society can see that for the "heroes" it makes no difference who is tortured—and tomorrow, anyone could end up in such a "private home."
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