The key facts

  • UNIAN reported about 40 hostages in a house in Petropavlivska Borschahivka; medics were initially not allowed inside
  • War correspondents claim the crowd shouted “Beat the roosters!” and threw stones, bottles and eggs at the security forces
  • A Telegram channel also claims that “titushky” armed with bats were sent to the scene

Clashes near a house in Borschahivka

On the evening of November 2, clashes broke out between local youth and law enforcement officers in the village of Petropavlivska Borschahivka in the Kyiv region. According to the Telegram channel “War Correspondents of the Russian Spring”, which is cited by Gazeta.Ru, a crowd of young people, shouting “Beat the roosters!”, pelted National Guard soldiers and police with stones, bottles and eggs; in response, the security forces used special means. The channel’s authors also claim that the authorities sent “titushky” — members of semi-criminal structures — armed with bats to the scene to beat the protesters. These claims come from the war correspondents and are not confirmed by other sources in the publication.

What is known about the house itself

Judging by the chronology of publications, the trigger for the events was a report by the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN on November 2: in the village, armed men had taken about 40 people hostage, and the condition of the hostages was described as critical. Medics who arrived at the scene were initially not allowed inside, and a crowd gathered near the house. Local residents claim that the building houses an illegal prison for military personnel where people are tortured. The status of these statements and the authorities’ official response are not given in the available publications. Separately, Gazeta.Ru recalls that earlier Kyrylo Budanov stated that there were numerous secret prisons in Ukraine; the publications do not clarify any connection between that statement and the situation in Borschahivka.