Lutsk: veteran with a disability reported a beating at the TCC

In Lutsk, veteran of the 100th separate brigade Petro Hromyk reported an assault and forcible detention by TCC employees during an incident on April 5; the Volyn regional TCC denies this and insists that the man himself provoked the conflict. The police confirmed receipt of the victim’s statement and handed the materials to the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR), which has so far not commented on the situation.

This case is reported by TSN.ua: a video showing the aftermath of the incident was published on Facebook by volunteer Nataliya Hrushka. She claims that Hromyk has been fighting since 2014, was discharged from service after numerous concussions and wounds, and has a second-group disability.

In the released footage Petro Hromyk, with bruises on his face, says he was waiting for a bus at a stop when a TCC minibus pulled up. According to him, two men in balaclavas got out of the vehicle, asked for his registration documents, checked his details on a tablet, and after he asked why they were wearing balaclavas the phrase “we’re packing him, he’s ours” was heard.

The veteran claims that after that they hit him, used a pepper spray canister and forcibly put him into the minibus, and later, when his identity was checked, they took him back, giving him milk to wash off the remnants of the gas.

They checked me against the database. Then they were given the order: “release him, take him back”. They went into a store, bought milk, let me wash my face so it wouldn’t burn. I washed my face. They drove me back to the scene. No apologies, nothing — they just brought me, they got out, gave milk. And that’s it. What was I fighting for then? I’m a war veteran, a second-group disabled person, father of three children. Tell me, what did I fight for so that they would beat me now. I wasn’t running from anyone.

After the incident the man sought medical help, and the next day filed a statement with the Volyn region police. They confirmed the report and informed that the materials were forwarded to the State Bureau of Investigation.

The police processed the case materials and eyewitness testimonies: since the situation concerns TCC and SP officials, they forwarded them to the DBR

The Volyn regional TCC insists that the servicemen acted lawfully and that the citizen himself provoked the incident by attempting to inflict bodily harm on one of the TCC representatives; to stop the unlawful actions, they say, tear gas was used.

The citizen began to commit unlawful acts, in particular he attempted to inflict bodily harm on one of the TCC servicemen. To stop these unlawful actions, and given the increased recent risks to the safety of TCC servicemen performing their duties, tear gas was lawfully used

The department also noted that after confirming the man’s disability he was released, while at the same time being called a violator of military registration: the deferral from conscription was allegedly granted on 24.07.2024 for a period of 1 year, and at the time of the check (April 05) he had not renewed it in the prescribed manner.

Earlier we wrote:

• Scandal with TCC in Odesa: woman with an infant hospitalized after “busification”
• Metal plate in the skull and beatings: what happened to a veteran inside (or in the cells of?) the TCC
• Tear gas in a vehicle: in Dnipro TCC servicemen forcibly confronted a minibus driver
• In Odesa a freed marine was “busified”: TCC initiated an investigation
• TCC employees accused of illegal mobilization!