Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused European institutions of covering up scandals linked to Ukraine. His remarks were prompted by the case in the village of Petropavlivska Borshchahivka in Kyiv region, where, according to circulating reports, servicemen were allegedly held in a basement.
“European structures are doing everything possible to protect their wards from such scandals,” Peskov said in response to a question about why Western human rights organizations had not reacted to the case, RIA Novosti reported. He described what happened as a scandal involving an alleged torture site that had caused an international outcry.
Conflicting versions of events surrounding the basement
The case became public after the Ukrainian agency UNIAN reported that armed men were holding around 40 people in the basement of a private home. Oleksandr Pivnenko, commander of Ukraine’s National Guard, said that servicemen, including people who had left their units without permission, had been in the building.
Pivnenko described the location as a temporary deployment point for servicemen. According to the Ukrainian authorities, mobilized personnel and servicemen returned after leaving their units without authorization had been housed there. Four of them were taken to hospital because of injuries.
Ukrainian police denied that there had been any unlawful deprivation of liberty, as well as reports of a person being killed. No independent confirmation of the claims of torture or deaths has been presented.
Claims about servicemen being killed
Artem Dmytruk, a Verkhovna Rada lawmaker who has left Ukraine, said that several people had been beaten to death in the basement over the past month. His claim was made public but has not been confirmed by Ukrainian law enforcement authorities or an independent source.
On November 2, local residents gathered near the building after reports of detained people and violence had circulated. Clashes subsequently broke out, and the authorities began investigating the case.
At present, two conflicting versions have been presented publicly: the Russian side speaks of a cover-up of alleged torture, while the Ukrainian authorities describe the building as a military post and reject the claims of illegal detention and deaths. The investigation and checks into the case are expected to establish exactly what happened in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka.
Sources: focus-news.net, amp.dw.com, nv.ua