Rumours of "40 hostages in a cellar" near Kyiv rejected by police

A major scandal erupted on 2 November in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, a village in Kyiv region, after Ukrainian social media and Telegram channels spread claims that armed men were illegally holding about 40 people in a private house. Police and the National Guard, part of Ukraine's armed forces structure, rejected the claims, but the incident reached the country's top leadership and is now being examined by the State Bureau of Investigation.

How it began

Some posts called the building a "private prison" where soldiers who had left their posts without permission were allegedly being tortured. It was also claimed that four people were in critical condition and that guards were blocking medics. An agitated crowd gathered at the fenced-off site demanding the release of the supposed detainees, and one person tried to climb the fence. Police, an ambulance and National Guard commander Oleksandr Pivnenko arrived at the scene.

What police and the Guard say

Police stated that information about illegal detention and a resident's death was untrue. Pivnenko explained that the building is a temporary holding point for one Guard unit, where mobilised soldiers are processed and checked before being sent to military training centres. He said 18 soldiers were there, four of whom had earlier left their posts without permission. After the incident those four were taken to a Guard medical centre. Guard spokesman Ruslan Muzychuk denied a claim that one had a broken spine, saying all four walked to the ambulance themselves. The Azov corps confirmed that four soldiers had injuries. How they were hurt and whether violence was used remains unclear.

The woman behind the claims

The outlet Slidstvo.Info reported that one of the main spreaders of the claims was 49-year-old Valentyna Molodaya, who presented herself as owner of the private clinic Med-prestiz. Boris Breus, a Kyiv region police official, said she had called the police. The clinic's owner, Mykhailo Furman, said the company has not operated since 2023 and that the ambulance at the scene was sold in 2024.

Official reaction

The confrontation between the crowd and servicemen grew into clashes: a Guard bus was damaged and shots were heard. Presidential office head Kyrylo Budanov called the events unacceptable and promised to identify the organisers and hold those responsible to account. Azov corps commander Denys Prokopenko argued that the information campaign serves Russian interests.