The evacuation was derailed, the driver was mobilized, and the police officers were reprimanded: the fallout from a high-profile scandal in Mykolaiv region

Two suspended employees were reinstated before the disciplinary order was issued

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04 Nov 2026

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After an evacuation vehicle belonging to the Red Cross was stopped in Mykolaiv Oblast, officers of the Bashtanka District Police Department received reprimands, while their supervisors were warned about the need to maintain service discipline. The order imposing disciplinary sanctions on the officers was issued on September 3, 2026. The findings of the investigation were published by “Vgoru”, which received a response to its media inquiry from the Main Directorate of the National Police in Mykolaiv Oblast.

The incident took place on August 14 near the settlement of Shevchenkove in Mykolaiv Oblast. Police stopped a vehicle belonging to the Kherson Regional Rapid Response Unit of the Red Cross, which was evacuating two families from Kherson. The evacuation mission could not be completed along its planned route.

According to the Red Cross, the crew was transporting people from vulnerable groups, including people with limited mobility. The passengers included:

a person with an amputation;
a three-year-old child;
a person with cancer;
their family members.

Unit commander Mykola Taranenko said that police checked the driver Oleksandr Bassarab’s documents and said everything was in order. However, one of the officers suggested that the driver might be under the influence of alcohol or drugs and offered to take him to a medical facility for testing.

The police response to Vgoru’s inquiry said that the apparent signs of intoxication had disappeared on the way to the medical facility. The police gave this as the reason why no medical examination was conducted.

The police then checked the driver’s military registration records together with representatives of the Bashtanka District Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center. The police claimed that he had neither a deferment nor an exemption from conscription, and that there was no record of him having undergone a military medical commission. According to the police, after this check the man voluntarily went to the Mykolaiv Regional Joint Mobilization Center.

An internal investigation was launched on August 14, 2026, following a post by the Kherson Rapid Response Unit of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society about the disrupted evacuation. The investigation was conducted by a disciplinary commission, which completed its work on August 28. While the investigation was underway, Ruslan Reveha and Andrii Tabakin were suspended from their duties, but both were allowed to return to work on August 31.

The following Bashtanka District Police Department officers received disciplinary sanctions:

Police Major Ruslan Reveha — a severe reprimand;
Police Lieutenant Colonel Andrii Tabakin — a severe reprimand;
Police Captain Leonid Zolotar, community police officer — a reprimand.

The unit’s supervisors were warned about the need to maintain service discipline:

Anzor Maglaperidze — head of the Bashtanka District Police Department;
Oleksii Yehorov — his deputy;
Dmytro Tymoshenkov — head of the Patrol Police Response Sector.

Journalists from Vgoru also requested a copy of the internal investigation report but were denied. The regional National Police directorate explained that the document contains personal data and information about other people, and that the law does not provide for such a report to be shared with the requester.

Lubinets condemned the incident in which the Red Cross driver was taken to the Mykolaiv Oblast Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center. After the employee was mobilized, the organization appealed to the police and the authorities.

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