Ambulance driver Viktor Yena remanded for 60 days without bail
Kyiv’s Solomianskyi District Court remanded the driver of an ambulance that arrived at an Azov deployment site before the November 2 clashes. His lawyers sought a less restrictive measure.
On November 5, 2026, Kyiv’s Solomianskyi District Court remanded Viktor Yena in custody for 60 days without the option of bail. He drove the ambulance in which Valentyna Moloda arrived at a temporary Azov deployment site in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, Kyiv region, where clashes took place on November 2. Hromadske reported the ruling through its correspondent in the courtroom.
Prosecutors sought custody, citing risks that Yena could abscond, destroy or distort evidence, or influence witnesses. The prosecution alleged that he had a financial interest in committing the crime.
His lawyers requested a less restrictive measure. They said Yena has combat veteran status and a Group III disability, and is his mother’s only son and supports her financially. The court granted the prosecutor’s request.
Before the hearing, Yena described himself as a witness to the events. He later explained that he was Moloda’s personal driver and said she had done nothing wrong. He also apologised to the military personnel “for some inconvenience”, saying they had not wanted events to develop this way, according to hromadske.
At a November 3 briefing, Security Service of Ukraine deputy chief Ivan Rudnytskyi alleged that, several days before the clashes, the woman who arrived wearing a medic’s uniform had repeatedly sent the driver to the house, where he took photographs and videos. In a November 4 statement, the SBU set out its account of an attempt to remove a serviceman under the guise of providing emergency medical assistance, using a private vehicle. These are investigators’ allegations, not facts established by a court.
The November 2 clashes began after allegations of unlawful detention and torture at the house circulated on social media. The National Guard’s 1st Azov Corps confirmed that the building was a temporary deployment site for military unit 3121, but rejected the torture allegations. The State Bureau of Investigation separately opened proceedings into possible abuse of authority by military personnel. The bureau said it would examine the servicemen’s conditions and reports of possible coercion against them.
The previous day, November 4, the court also remanded Valentyna Moloda and Tetiana Kirieieva in custody without bail. At her hearing, Kirieieva said she had been seeking hospital treatment for a serviceman she knew who was at the deployment site.
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