Red Cross driver taken to Territorial Recruitment Center during civilian evacuation from Kherson: police comment

This was reported by the Kherson Rapid Response Unit of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society.

On August 14, a Red Cross crew evacuated two families from dangerous areas of Kherson; among them were elderly and seriously ill people, as well as a three-year-old child. In one family, the mother had been killed as a result of Russian aggression; the father had undergone a high amputation of his lower limbs; and the family included a 3-year-old son and a grandmother. The other family consisted of a woman with cancer and her son.

They were to be transported to the Kyiv region, but an incident occurred near the village of Shevchenkove on the “Odesa–Melitopol–Novoazovsk” highway.

According to the unit commander, police stopped the car at a checkpoint and, under the pretext of testing for intoxication, took the driver to a collection point for a medical examination.

The Mykolaiv Regional Police confirmed that a joint team with military personnel from the Territorial Recruitment Center had checked the documents. According to their information, the driver did not have a reservation and was subject to mobilization, so he was taken to the TCC. They stated that another driver arrived at the scene and transported the evacuees to their destination.

Police leadership has launched an internal investigation into the legality of the officers’ actions.

As a reminder, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Registration and Enlistment Office and the Special Operations Unit was detained on bribery charges. The official received $15,000 for helping conscripts avoid mobilization.