In brief
On November 2, police and special forces opened fire at a house in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka where National Guard servicemen, including newly mobilized men and deserters, were being held in a basement. Protesters attempting to storm the fence triggered tear gas and gunfire, while an ambulance crew faced resistance before being allowed to carry four injured detainees to a hospital. Ukrainian National Guard commander Alexander Pivnenko confirmed the site’s purpose and pledged an internal investigation into alleged injuries.
On November 2, Ukraine’s law‑enforcement officers opened gunfire near a private house in the Petropavlivska Borshchahivka community outside Kyiv, where a basement was reportedly holding around 40 men, including conscripts, deserters and newly mobilised soldiers. Protesters gathered to demand the release of those held there and attempted to breach a perimeter fence and smash windows of a police bus before the police responded with force.
According to TASS, the protest “has escalated into a violent phase,” and the police shot after the demonstrators’ assault. Special forces joined the scene, and an ambulance crew arrived after a medical worker reported a video showing detainees in the basement in critical condition, many with injuries that the worker said were consistent with torture. The medics were initially denied access but were eventually allowed to take four men, one in serious condition, to a hospital after the case attracted widespread attention.
TASS reported that the basement of the rented single‑family house had been used to detain National Guard servicemen. Ukrainian authorities said the site handled paperwork and conducted checks before sending the men to training centres. The building’s occupants have been identified by police as Guard servicemen, contrary to earlier media claims that armed men were holding civilians in confinement.
National Guard commander Alexander Pivnenko acknowledged that the facility was a temporary deployment site for a National Guard unit. He told the UNIAN news agency that mobilised men arrived there, had their documents processed, and underwent checks before being sent to a training centre. Pivnenko also said an internal investigation would be conducted to determine the extent of any wrongdoing following a case of a man who suffered a fractured spinal injury in the basement.
"This house is a temporary deployment site for a National Guard unit. Servicemen mobilised by a territorial recruitment centre arrive there, have their documents processed and undergo checks before being sent … to a training centre," Pivnenko said.
Pivnenko added that the unit should relocate, “now that its current site has become known.” The commander emphasised that the men had been randomly assembled there because they could not be sent to training facilities individually.
In the same moments that law‑enforcement opened fire, news outlets noted the arrival of the head of President Zelensky’s office, Kirill Budanov, designated in Russia as a terrorist and extremist. Budanov’s presence, reported by TASS, highlighted the political attention the incident attracted at the highest levels of Ukraine’s leadership.
The house in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka has also drawn earlier, unconfirmed allegations from Ukrainian media that approximately 40 people were forcibly held in its basement. Those earlier reports claimed the detainees had been subjected to torture and that armed men guarded the premises in a manner reminiscent of a prison. Police statements later clarified that the occupants were only servicemen who had defected or were newly mobilised.
The clash at the house followed a wave of protests across Ukraine demanding fairness in the mobilisation process, including grievances about forced conscription and treatment of deserters. While the protest in Borshchahivka carried out an assault on the police bus and used tear gas, police and special forces retaliated with gunfire, creating a tense atmosphere for civilians and detainees alike.
Despite the release of a video showing gunfire and the police’s acknowledgment that the building housed military personnel, questions remain about the conditions of confinement and the legality of using a private residence as a detention and processing centre. The ongoing internal investigation, announced by the National Guard chief, will examine alleged injuries and the proper handling of the men in the basement. Ukraine’s response will be closely watched by observers as the country navigates the politicised terrain of mobilisation during an ongoing conflict.
