National Police of Ukraine (NPU) officers responded to a private ambulance crew’s report that it could not reach a man, arriving near a home where National Guard of Ukraine (NGU) personnel gathered Nov. 2.
Police said residents were outside the house and that police leaders and NGU command were at the scene to clarify events. The NPU rejected claims that people were being unlawfully held or that anyone had died. It did not give a count of people at the property or explain why NGU personnel were there.
Telegram channels alleged about 40 people were being held hostage in a basement. The Kyiv Independent said it could not verify the social-media claims. Its reporters described residents protesting the alleged detention of several dozen men who appeared to have been recently mobilized, and reported that a bus arrived to take about a dozen people away. The outlet did not establish whether the bus left.
In a later update, the Kyiv Independent reported that the NGU said ambulances had taken people needing medical attention from the site roughly two hours earlier. The outlet said the Guard planned to provide more information about their conditions and again denied that anyone had died.
The Kyiv Independent also reported that Ukraine’s Military Ombudsman Olha Reshetylova said her office was at the scene with NGU command. Reshetylova said military personnel were safe and that medical help was being provided, the outlet reported.
Police said they were working to clarify what happened. The NGU was reported by the Kyiv Independent to have said more information about the medical conditions would follow.
