Ukraine Blames Russia Over Kyiv-Area Clash as Two Probes Open

Two investigations are now under way into the Nov. 2 clash between a crowd and riot police in the Kyiv suburb of Petropavlivska Borshchahivka. Senior Ukrainian officials have offered differing explanations, and some blame Russia, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

The National Guard announced an internal inquiry, and the State Bureau of Investigation, the country's top investigative agency, said it would also look into the incident. Neither body has disclosed findings.

What officials say happened inside the house

The unrest began after residents heard rumors that several dozen men, some of them National Guard members, were being held in the basement of a private house. Maj. Gen. Oleksandr Pivnenko, the National Guard commander, told the crowd late on Nov. 2 that some of those inside were guardsmen who had left their units without permission. Four of them reported unspecified medical problems, he said.

The Azov unit of the National Guard said in a statement that the building housed mobilized personnel and soldiers detained after leaving their unit without authorization.

Kyiv police said they had been called by a private ambulance crew who said they were being blocked from treating an unidentified person. RFE/RL reported that some Ukrainian news outlets disputed that account.

Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi said one woman in the crowd had tried to help a man who was absent without leave flee the house. He said the man was her husband, whom she had been hiding at home. The ministry did not name her.

Who is blamed for the unrest

Kyrylo Budanov, a top presidential adviser and former head of military intelligence, told Ukrainian television he did not know the motive. He suggested a wider, unspecified plot, asking “who is paying for this and why,” and raised the possibility that the aim was something directed against the state's interests.

Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha went further, blaming Russia without presenting specific evidence. He wrote on Facebook that Moscow's goal was to “amplify existing problems” in Ukraine. He added that those problems are an internal task Ukraine must address, but said the enemy was the driving force behind what he called a provocation.

The crowd's own account was different. Some people outside the house shouted that people were being tortured, according to RFE/RL, and the situation turned violent. People threw rocks and eggs at a police bus and tried to overturn it, and riot police used tear gas.

Why it matters for Ukraine's recruitment effort

The clash is the latest in a series of incidents that have drawn attention to how Ukraine finds soldiers nearly four years after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. Recruitment runs through Territorial Centers for Recruitment and Social Support, which both enlist men and track down those avoiding service.

RFE/RL describes a widely despised practice known as “busification,” in which officials drive minibuses around looking for suspected draft dodgers, detain them by force and take them to recruiting centers. In one notorious case, recruiters handed out summonses at a Kyiv concert by the country's most popular rock group.

The scale of the manpower challenge is large. A 2024 parliamentary estimate put the number of eligible Ukrainian men between 25 and 60 at 4.35 million. That figure excludes those exempt on family or professional grounds, already serving, disabled, living under Russian occupation or abroad. Other estimates are somewhat higher, at around 5 million.

Ukraine's casualties, killed and wounded, are believed to exceed 500,000. Western intelligence and expert estimates put Russia's at more than 1.5 million dead and wounded, according to RFE/RL. The outlet says Russia has had more success attracting volunteers but has also seen men forced into signing contracts, on a smaller scale.

Ukraine has carried out several major reforms to simplify the process and make contracts more attractive and lucrative, RFE/RL reported. Public anger over forced detentions continues all the same.

What happens next

The National Guard and the State Bureau of Investigation are expected to establish what happened at the house and during the clash. No timeline for either inquiry has been given. Until they report, the accounts from police, the Interior Ministry, the National Guard and Ukrainian media remain unreconciled.

Earlier on Around Prague: Crowd near Kyiv attacks police over rumors that soldiers were beaten

Around Prague, based on reporting by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty