38th Brigade recruiter reports Stakhiv left Navy training centre
Ostap Stakhiv was found missing on the morning of November 5. A brigade recruiter said an absence report was filed and military law enforcement was notified.
Ostap Stakhiv, who was mobilised in Lviv, left a Ukrainian Navy training centre without authorisation, Oleksandr Molodyi, a recruiter with the recruiting headquarters of the Navy's 38th Separate Marine Brigade, told Suspilne on November 5, 2026.
He said Stakhiv's absence was discovered during the morning check on November 5. Searches at the centre were unsuccessful. A report of unauthorised absence was filed, and the information was passed to the Military Law Enforcement Service, which the recruiter said was searching for Stakhiv.
That same day, Stakhiv's associate Zhan Novoseltsev shared a video containing his statement. According to Suspilne and ZAXID.NET, Stakhiv said he had left the centre and was heading towards Lviv. He said he did not consider himself mobilised, rejected the military medical commission's findings and intended to challenge the actions in court. This is his position, not a court finding on the legality of his mobilisation.
According to ZAXID.NET's account, Stakhiv claimed he had been transferred from Lviv region to a marine training centre in Poltava region. His location after leaving has not been independently established; his statement about returning to Lviv does not confirm that he arrived in the city.
On October 31, Stakhiv was taken to a district territorial recruitment and social support centre in Lviv. Suspilne, citing the Lviv regional recruitment centre, reported that he had been wanted since March 6, 2026, over violations of military registration rules. That search preceded his mobilisation and is separate from the current report that he left the training centre.
On November 2, Major Kateryna Lytvynchuk, spokesperson for Operational Command West, confirmed to Suspilne that the military medical commission had found Stakhiv fit for service and that he was already serving in a Ukrainian Armed Forces brigade. The report of his departure from the centre therefore followed the command's public confirmation of his military service.
Primary sources
Documents and statements this story is based on.
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