Budanov said there are 'many' facilities like the house near Kyiv in Ukraine

Kirill Budanov, head of Zelensky's office, responded to the scandal surrounding a house in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka where mobilized men and servicemen who had left their units without authorization were being held. He gave the number of detainees — 14 people — and refused to call the facility an illegal prison.

Aziz KarimovFirst published on tafs uz 3 November 2026 at 06:142 min read

The key facts

Budanov said there are 'many such buildings' but refused to call them illegal prisons
According to him, there were 14 people in the house — fewer than local media had reported
Deputy Dmitruk earlier claimed people had died and money was extorted from relatives

What happened near Kyiv

Kirill Budanov*, head of Volodymyr Zelensky's office, commented on the scandal surrounding a house in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka near Kyiv, where, as previously reported, mobilized men and servicemen who had left their units without authorization were being held. Answering questions from people gathered outside the building, he said: 'There are many such buildings,' and promised that questions about these facilities and what goes on inside them would be addressed the next day. At the same time, the official refused to call them illegal prisons. This was reported by UNIAN, citing his exchange with those gathered, as reported by Life.ru.

Number of detainees and events at the building

According to Budanov, there were 14 people in the house. This contradicts the initial reports from local media about several dozen detained men — the discrepancy remains unexplained. Some of those gathered, he said, were allowed inside to look around and have their questions answered. A 14-year-old teenager also turned out to be at the scene, explaining his presence with the words 'I came with the guys'; as TSN writes, Budanov helped him contact his relatives. One of the protesters claimed that the boy had been thrown over a fence and beaten — this claim has also not been independently confirmed.

Graver allegations remain unconfirmed

Earlier, a member of the Verkhovna Rada, Artem Dmitruk reported the deaths of several people in the basement of a private house near Kyiv. According to him, detainees could have been handed over to military units, and money demanded from their relatives for the release of loved ones; some of the detainees, the deputy claimed, are listed as missing. Life.ru itself noted, however, that these allegations require independent confirmation. Thus, at this point only the existence of the facility and Budanov's visit have been confirmed, while the claims about deaths and extortion remain at the level of the deputy's words, and the number of detainees remains a matter of dispute between the official and local media.