"Forcibly dragged out of the car and beaten": Kharkiv animator accuses TRC of violence

"Forcibly dragged out of the car and beaten": Kharkiv animator accuses TRC of violence

In Kharkiv, children’s animator Oleksandr Vlasenko (stage pseudonym — Professor Puzyrkov) stated that he had been beaten by representatives of the Novobavarskyi District Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center (TRC and SS).

According to the victim, on August 8 his car was stopped at the request of a police officer. Next to the law enforcement officer were a serviceman and a man in civilian clothes without identification marks. The latter did not introduce himself but demanded military registration documents.

When the animator noted that he was waiting to speak with the police officer, the man in civilian clothes began behaving aggressively. After that, the victim was forcibly pulled out of the car, beaten, and taken to the TRC premises. Vlasenko claims that in the TRC building he was threatened with cancellation of his current mobilization deferment, detention for several days without notifying his relatives, and was also subjected to repeated bodily injuries.

After his release, the man sought medical assistance at a hospital to document the beatings and also filed a statement with the police.

The Kharkiv Regional TRC and SS deny the accusations. The institution’s spokesperson Olena Rodina stated to journalists that the servicemen of the Novobavarskyi TRC deny the use of force and that their notification groups allegedly could not have included persons in civilian clothes.