In Odesa, a district military enlistment office employee hit a 13-year-old teenager — police opened an investigation

In the Khadzhibey district of Odesa, a servicemember of the district military enlistment and social protection office struck a 13-year-old boy — the incident was captured on video that was shared on social media. According to preliminary police information, the event occurred several days ago. Law enforcement officers have already identified both participants in the conflict. The Odesa regional military enlistment and social protection office announced an internal probe.

Police discovered the video, which shows the servicemember arguing with the teenager, grabbing his clothing and striking him, while monitoring social networks. This was reported by the Odesa Region Police. Investigators of the territorial police unit entered information into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations under part 2 of article 126 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — beatings and torture. The maximum penalty for this offense is five years' imprisonment.

In Odesa, police have initiated a criminal case over the incident between a servicemember of the district military enlistment office and a 13-year-old boy. In the video circulating on social media, the man grabs the child by his clothing and strikes him. The incident occurred several days ago in the Khadzhibey district of the city. An investigation is underway to establish all the circumstances of the event. Procedural supervision of the case is being carried out by the Khadzhibey District Prosecutor’s Office of the city of Odesa.

Telegram oembed: https://t.me/u_now/209290

At the same time, claims are being circulated online that the boy allegedly threw stones. However, this does not correspond to reality: in the released video of the start of the conflict, it is clear that he did not do so.

Response from the enlistment office

The Odesa regional military enlistment and social protection office confirmed the appearance of the video and said that leadership immediately ordered an internal investigation. All circumstances of the incident, the antecedents of the conflict, and the identities of those recorded in the footage are currently being established.

"The leadership's position is principled: any manifestations of violence, abuse of authority, or inappropriate behavior toward citizens are unacceptable," the statement from the Odesa regional military enlistment and social protection office reads.

The enlistment office added that if the guilt and involvement of servicemembers in the offense are confirmed, the responsible persons will be held accountable in accordance with current Ukrainian legislation. At the same time, the agency urged the public and the media to refrain from premature conclusions and from spreading unverified information until the internal investigation is completed.

Earlier, Informator reported that ten military commissars in Odesa were notified of suspicion of torture — according to the investigation, men were unlawfully detained, had tear gas used against them, were beaten, and were forcibly taken to military enlistment offices. We also wrote that prosecutors exposed a large-scale scheme of fictitious mobilizations in three regions, where former heads of military enlistment offices entered false data into the "Obereg" register. The investigation documented 446 such incidents.