Ran over a 2-year-old and fled: Odesa region investigating crash involving a recruitment center employee

In the Odesa region, an employee of the district Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support, while conducting mobilization notification, according to preliminary police data, hit a 2.5-year-old boy with his car and then left the scene of the accident. The injured child was hospitalized.

The traffic incident occurred on September 3, 2026 in one of the villages of the Balta community of Podilskyi district, Odesa Oblast. According to circumstances preliminarily established by law enforcement, the district Territorial Center employee was conducting mobilization notification measures at the time. The boy was on the road together with his father. At one point the child moved away from him and ended up in the path of the vehicle driven by the Territorial Center employee. A collision occurred. After that the driver did not remain at the scene but drove away.

As a result of the accident the 2.5-year-old boy sustained bodily injuries. The child was taken to a medical facility. There is no information in the initial police report about the nature of the injuries or his current condition. An investigative-operational team from the territorial police unit worked at the scene. Law enforcement officers have begun establishing the full circumstances of the accident. Investigators entered information into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations immediately under Art. 286 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – violation of traffic safety rules or vehicle operation that caused bodily injury, and Art. 135 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – abandonment in danger.

As of the evening of September 3, the police reported that the driver was being detained in procedural order. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing; law enforcement must establish all circumstances of the incident and give them a legal assessment.

The Odesa Regional Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support said it is assisting law enforcement in the investigation and is interested in an objective establishment of all circumstances of the accident. The agency also urged not to spread unverified information until investigative actions are completed.

“Safety, people’s lives and health are an unconditional priority. The actions of all participants in the incident must receive an appropriate legal assessment based on the results of establishing all circumstances”, – the Territorial Center said.

This is not the first high-profile case in the Odesa region related to the Territorial Center’s service vehicles. As RBC-Ukraine recalls, in March 2026 in Odesa a Territorial Center minibus hit a pensioner, after which an internal investigation was launched at the regional recruitment center.

Earlier we reported:

• In Kyiv, a father of five minor children was illegally detained at a TCC
• Now everything will be captured on camera: TCC vans in Mykolaiv will be equipped with cameras
• In Mykolaiv, police said there was no traffic accident involving a cyclist: the man voluntarily went to the TCC
• After the accident — not to the hospital, but to the TCC: in Mykolaiv the cyclist’s wife reported a strange story
• In Ternopil, a conflict occurred between residents and the TCC: several servicemen were injured