“Grabbed as evaders”: whether the fight in Odessa could have been avoided
12 June 2024 14:37
In Odesa, there is a critical situation with ambulance drivers. The men are resigning because, according to them, the issue of reservations from mobilisation in the region has not been resolved and is leading to conflicts. For example, a video of a fight between medics and soldiers in Odesa was shared yesterday, 11 June, by all media and social networks. [Kommersant] looked into what really happened in the city and how the parties to the conflict explain the situation.
What happened in Odesa on 11 June
On Tuesday, Telegram channels published a video of a fight between ambulance workers and representatives of the territorial recruitment centre in Odesa.
Social media reported that in the morning, an ambulance driver had come to the TCC in Kyiv district to update his data, but the military enlistment office decided not to let him go. The driver complained of high blood pressure and called an ambulance. The team arrived, but they refused to let him out of the TCC.
Other ambulance crews came to help their colleagues. When the driver, who had come to the TCC to update his data, ran outside, a man in military uniform tried to stop him. He sprayed the man in the face with a gas canister. Then the ambulance driver took a bat together with a medic who came to help and started beating the military commissar.
What ambulance medics say
Aparamedic at substation No. 4 told the Dumskaya media outlet that the situation with staff reservations was critical. That is why ambulance drivers are resigning en masse.
“We have the cars, we have no one to drive them… The same will be true for paramedics and doctors. We were expecting some kind of result, but there is no result. We are not promised anything,” the man told reporters.
According to him, out of all the substation employees, only 22 people have been exempted from mobilisation. This number is not enough for the substation to operate efficiently.
“If all of them are taken to the front now, the substation will simply stop working. I think the situation at other substations is similar,” said the paramedic.
In addition, another paramedic of the Odesa ambulance, Bogdan Velichko, told his version of the incident. According to him, upon arriving at the CCC, the paramedics saw a man with head injuries. The military insisted that the man refused medical care and did not allow them to take him to hospital.
When the doctors tried to take the man out of the shopping centre, the military attacked them, tried to handcuff him and put him on a bench. Later, the man refused to be hospitalised, arguing that “at least the doctors should be released”, but the TCC staff said they were starting to check the documents of the brigade.
The journalists also talked to the ambulance doctor Oleksandr Kishchenko about the fight with the TCC representatives. According to him, the management promised that after updating the data in the MCC, the ambulance workers would receive a reservation. Instead, he was handed a military draft notice at the military registration and enlistment office. The doctor claims that some doctors who had been promised reservations by the management were “grabbed on the streets as evaders”.
How the situation was commented on in Odesa TCC
on 11 June, at 16:38, the official Facebook page of the Odesa Regional MCC and JV [0]=AZVg9ThNjV_NNqU9GeXuq7j-eyCFE7PYzfXK9ZJrcj0sjQYXXcFzXRfAb5fM7Y4PTG-ghsrwD9P3LZES1ya7cW6X3vIoS-soGkL4FSZRkUseWWpHJJv-fw7JpmZ5yUwWNhAHz_QYmGCPslV9ybgGFTwSxC39MP4StkBRp4mq4vBG-WGUvFUPwIQPjUnJE6bz5lUBYR2HkRpfZaH4yTMEfK-O&__tn__=,O,P-R”>published on the social media page. According to the Odesa TCC, on 11 June 2024, its representatives, together with the police, checked citizens’ IDs. One of the men allegedly refused to show the necessary papers to the inspectors.
As a result, the police and military personnel carried out an administrative detention of the man. An hour later, a group of people arrived at the scene, claiming to be there to help the detainee and insisting on his hospitalisation. However, these people, according to the TCC, did not provide documents confirming their affiliation with the healthcare system. That is why the TCC employees again called the police, who detained the doctors. The incident is currently under investigation.
What information was received from the police in Odesa Oblast
The website of the Main Department of the National Police in Odesa Oblast published information that the conflict between ambulance medics and employees of the TCC in Odesa is being investigated as hooliganism. Security forces have already identified and interviewed witnesses and eyewitnesses. Some of the participants in the incident were invited to the police station, where law enforcement officers are working with them.
