People were being transported from the "red zone", and the driver was taken to the TCC: scandal in Mykolaiv region

Evacuation from Kherson was halted after the driver was mobilized: the Red Cross accused the police, the Main Directorate of the National Police began an investigation

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14 Aug 2026

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A loud conflict between the Kherson Regional Rapid Response Unit of the Ukrainian Red Cross and law enforcement occurred on 14 August 2026 in Mykolaiv Oblast. The driver of an evacuation vehicle, which was transporting people with serious illnesses and people with limited mobility from Kherson, after a document check was taken to the territorial recruitment and social support center. The unit commander spoke of a “disruption of the evacuation” and said that he would stop evacuation departures from Kherson after this. The police presented a different version of events and have already launched an internal investigation.

According to the Kherson Regional Rapid Response Unit of the Ukrainian Red Cross, on 14 August 2026 the crew was evacuating civilians from dangerous areas of Kherson that regularly suffer attacks by Russian drones and artillery shelling.

In particular, they were evacuating a family that had already been affected by Russian aggression: the mother was killed, the husband has a high-level amputation of his lower limbs; with him were his 3-year-old son and his grandmother. They were also transporting 2 more people — a woman with cancer and her son. The people needed to be taken to Kyiv Oblast.

The first stage of the evacuation from Tekstylnykiv Avenue was carried out by representatives of the NGO “Silni bo vіlni” (Strong Because Free). A mother and son were also evacuated from Pylyp Orlyk Street. Next the rapid response unit’s crew was to deliver the evacuees to Uman, where a handover point had been arranged.

According to the unit, after the settlement of Shevchenkove the evacuation vehicle was stopped at a mobile checkpoint by officers of the Bashtanka District Police Department of Mykolaiv Oblast. The driver’s documents were checked.

The unit claims that one of the policemen took notice of the driver’s appearance and suspected he might be intoxicated.

The unit commander described the conversation with the officer as follows:

“Your face looks pale, have you used something?”

According to Red Cross representatives, the driver was offered to go for a blood test for drugs and alcohol. However, the unit commander asserts that the man was not taken for a medical examination but to an assembly point to undergo a military medical examination.

The evacuation brigade leader was particularly outraged that people they were evacuating from dangerous Kherson remained in the vehicle at that time.

The commander of the Kherson Regional Rapid Response Unit sharply criticized what happened:

“They simply abandoned the people in the vehicle that we had evacuated. The policemen need to meet a mobilization plan. They don’t care about our fellow citizens; they don’t care what will happen to those we evacuate at risk to life. They don’t care about the Law and the Constitution of Ukraine. Essentially the person was kidnapped. They kidnapped the evacuation brigade’s driver. I only have four in my unit. Today minus one. And all because of a ‘servant of the law’! Shame on you!”

At the same time, the assertions about “kidnapping,” a “mobilization plan,” and deceiving the driver reflect the position of the unit’s representative. The police do not confirm these accusations in their official account.

The unit leader said that after the incident he officially complained to the head of the Bashtanka District Police Department about the actions of the officer involved.

He also contacted the representative of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights (the Ombudsman) in Mykolaiv Oblast.

According to the unit commander, the Ombudsman’s representative’s response was:

“I have more than a hundred such complaints.”

After the event the commander of the Kherson Regional Rapid Response Unit announced that he is stopping evacuations from Kherson. He emphasized that during 2025 the team evacuated 958 people with limited mobility to safer regions of Ukraine.

The unit leader explained his decision and appealed to the National Police of Ukraine:

“Many of you know me — I am the commander of the Kherson Regional Rapid Response Unit of the Ukrainian Red Cross. In 2025 we evacuated 958 people with limited mobility to safer regions of Ukraine. Now there will be fewer of them. Much fewer. I am stopping evacuations from Kherson. I demand an explanation from the National Police of Ukraine for the actions of your subordinates.”

He also apologized to the residents of Kherson whom the team may not have had time to evacuate.

In his address the commander wrote:

“I apologize to all the residents of the city — forgive us that we did not manage to evacuate everyone who wanted to survive. Forgive us.”

What the police said

The Main Directorate of the National Police in Mykolaiv Oblast reported that they learned about the conflict while monitoring social networks, where a post with a video of the incident had been published.

According to the preliminary police account, on 14 August near Shevchenkove on the Odesa — Melitopol — Novoazovsk highway an alert group was operating, which included servicemen from the territorial recruitment and social support center and a police officer. They were checking citizens’ military registration documents.

It is here that the police version significantly diverges from the evacuation unit’s statement.

The police claim that during the check it was established that the evacuation vehicle’s driver did not have a reservation (exemption) and was subject to mobilization. After that the man was taken to the territorial recruitment and social support center.

The law enforcement officers also said that the evacuees were ultimately not left without assistance: another driver arrived on site, continued the route and delivered the group to the required location.

At the same time, the leadership of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Mykolaiv Oblast has not left the incident without an internal review. An official investigation has been initiated to determine all the circumstances of the incident.

In particular, the Main Inspection Department is checking the lawfulness of the police officer’s actions during the document check, detention and delivery of the driver.

Based on the results of the official investigation, the actions of the police officer will be evaluated. If violations are established, those responsible will be subjected to measures prescribed by law.

Thus, at present the parties describe the same incident in fundamentally different ways. Representatives of the evacuation unit claim that the driver was taken under the pretext of a test for alcohol and drugs to an assembly point, after which the commander announced the suspension of evacuations from Kherson. The police, by contrast, say the man did not have an exemption and was subject to mobilization, and the evacuees were taken by another driver. The final assessment of the police officer’s actions will be made by the official investigation.

The Ukrainian Red Cross indeed systematically carries out evacuations of civilians from dangerous frontline areas, including from Kherson. The organization’s official website reported that during one such operation in March 2026 three crews evacuated 11 people from the city.