Court orders 60 days in custody for driver linked to Petropavlivska Borshchahivka unrest

A court on November 5 ordered Viktor Yen to remain in custody for 60 days without bail in connection with unrest in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka. Yen drove the vehicle described as an ambulance in which self-proclaimed doctor Valentyna Moloda arrived at the site, according to Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne's reporting from the courtroom.

Under the ruling, Yen will be held at the Kyiv Pre-Trial Detention Centre, with the detention order valid through January 3, 2027, inclusive. The decision takes effect immediately and may be challenged in the Kyiv Court of Appeal within five days of its announcement. During the hearing, Yen said he regarded himself as a witness rather than an accomplice.

Suspilne reported that Yen arrived on Soniachna Street in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka on November 2 and identified himself as an ambulance driver. Moloda, who travelled in the vehicle, alleged that servicemen were being held unlawfully inside a building serving as a temporary deployment base for the Ukrainian National Guard's 1st Azov Corps.

Clashes erupted in the settlement that day after people gathered in response to unverified reports that men were being detained and tortured at the site. National Guard servicemen were stationed there, and members of the crowd smashed a National Guard bus during the unrest.

The 1st Azov Corps said the deployment point housed mobilised personnel and servicemen detained after being absent without official leave. According to the corps, those at the location were awaiting assignment to military units.

On November 4, a court also ordered Moloda and another woman suspected in the riots case to spend 60 days in custody without bail. Ukrainska Pravda identified the second woman as Tetiana Kiriieva.

According to Suspilne, Moloda received a notice of suspicion concerning obstruction of the lawful activities of Ukrainian forces and other armed formations, dissemination of information about servicemen's locations, and organisation of mass riots. She said she would appeal.

Slidstvo.Info reported that Moloda had circulated the allegations of unlawful detention and presented herself as the owner of the Med-Prestige company. Its journalists established that the private ambulance service had not been in use since 2023. Military Ombudswoman Olha Reshetylova said an investigation had been ordered into the circumstances of the incident.