"One law for everyone": General Staff responds to incident in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine commented on the incident in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, Kyiv region, on November 2. This was reported by UNN.

Details

As noted by the General Staff, Ukrainian service members deserve respect, protection, and fair treatment from the state and society.

Wearing a military uniform in no way deprives a person of the right to dignity, safety, and protection from threats, humiliation, and violence. Respect for a service member is not a reward for flawlessness. It is a norm of a society that is fighting a war for its own existence

The General Staff added that it "supports an objective and impartial investigation." It noted that conclusions regarding the existence of violations and the responsibility of specific individuals "must be based on established facts, not emotions, assumptions, or public pressure."

Citizens’ right to demand compliance with the law is indisputable. But it gives no one the right to take the law into their own hands, threaten service members, obstruct their lawful activities, or create threats to their safety

At the same time, they added, publishing information about the locations of military personnel that could help the enemy determine their whereabouts poses a real threat to people’s lives and safety. Disseminating information defined by Article 114-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine may entail criminal liability.

russia is attempting to use internal conflicts to undermine trust in Ukraine’s Defense Forces. Therefore, we call on people to refrain from spreading unverified accusations, not to replace the work of law enforcement agencies with public verdicts, and not to turn individual incidents into a pretext for discrediting service members as a whole. The Ukrainian military is part of Ukrainian society, not its opposite. People in military uniform defend the same state, the same families, and the same rights enjoyed by all citizens of Ukraine. Compliance with the law is mandatory for everyone. And the state must be equally principled both in responding to possible violations by service members and in protecting military personnel from unlawful actions, threats, and unfounded accusations

We remind you

The State Bureau of Investigation launched criminal proceedings over the events that took place on November 2, 2026, in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, Kyiv region. The proceedings were initiated under Part 5 of Article 426-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (exceeding authority or official powers by a military service official).