A Red Cross driver was taken to the TCC during the evacuation from Kherson

In the Mykolaiv region, police stopped a Red Cross vehicle that was evacuating people from Kherson. The driver was taken to the TCC, and the evacuation was suspended. Police have launched an internal investigation.

According to Mykola Taranenko,commander of the Kherson Regional Rapid Response Unit of the Ukrainian Red Cross , the incident occurredon August 14.

He stated that the crew was carrying out an evacuation mission from Kherson. The special vehicle was transporting two families affected by the Russian aggression. Among those evacuated were a three-year-old child, a grandmother, a man who had undergone high amputations of both lower limbs, and a woman with cancer and her son.

After leaving Kherson, the volunteers were supposed to take the people to a transfer point in Uman, from where they were to be transported further to the Kyiv region.

Near the village of Shevchenkove in the Mykolaiv region, the vehicle was stopped by police officers from the Bashtanka District Police Department. The Red Cross team stated that the driver’s and medical crew’s documents were in order.

According to Taranenko, a police officer noticed the driver’s pale face and asked him to take a test for alcohol and drug intoxication. However, as the unit commander claims, instead of being taken to a medical facility, the driver was transported to a TCC assembly point to undergo a military medical examination.

The Kherson Rapid Response Unit stated that the evacuation had to be suspended as a result. They also claimed that the civilians—including people with limited mobility, a child, and a woman with cancer—were left in the vehicle without a driver.

“The police have to meet their mobilization quota. They don’t care about our fellow citizens; they don’t care what happens to those we’re evacuating at the risk of our own lives,” Taranenko said.

The press office of the Mykolaiv Regional Police confirmed the incident itself but provided a different account of the events.

According to law enforcement, on the “Odesa–Melitopol–Novoazovsk” highway near Shevchenkove, a checkpoint team consisting of military personnel from the Territorial Recruitment Center and the Special Forces, along with a police officer, was checking citizens’ military registration documents in accordance with current legislation.

During the check, it was discovered that the driver did not have an exemption and was subject to mobilization; as a result, he was taken to the Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support. 

At the same time, police stated that the evacuation was not left incomplete. Another driver arrived at the scene and transported the evacuees to their intended destination.

After news of the incident spread, the leadership of the Main Department of the National Police in Mykolaiv Oblast ordered an internal investigation. It is being conducted by the General Inspection Department of the regional police department.

Law enforcement officials are to examine all the circumstances of the incident, including the legality of the police officer’s actions during the document check, the detention, and the transport of the driver to the TCC.

Based on the results of the investigation, the police officer’s actions will be evaluated. If the investigation finds any violations, the police promise to take the measures provided for by law.

Ірина Глухова