Enlistment office staff mobilized an Austrian TV company cameraman near Ternopil while he was on his way to filming

Austrian TV company ORF is demanding that the Ukrainian authorities release its cameraman, 53-year-old Ukrainian citizen Andriy Neposedov, who was detained and taken to a TCC and SP in Ternopil region while he was on his way to film an assignment for the TV company.

The company’s statement is published by Austrian media.

Neposedov’s wife said that her husband voluntarily went to fight at the beginning of Russia’s large-scale invasion, was wounded in Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk region, after which he was discharged from the army.

Recently he was heading to the village of Sadove near Ternopil to film the reburial of victims of the Volyn massacre, when he was stopped by police regarding compliance with traffic rules, after which a TCC employee appeared and demanded first to present documents and then to proceed to the recruitment center.

Neposedov has already been held against his will in the Ternopil TCC for four days and is not allowed to meet with a lawyer. He was only permitted to make phone calls to his lawyer and his wife, who was with him at the time of his detention.

At the same time, the TCC at first denied that Neposedov was with them, but later admitted it. The commissars claim they detained the man due to the absence of military registration documents. However, his wife insists that he had handed the documents over to them.

The man is being required to undergo a military medical commission in Ternopil region, while he is ready to do this only at his place of registration.

“We demand from the Ukrainian authorities the immediate release of ORF’s cameraman and an explanation of the reasons for the arrest. The cameraman is 53 years old, in 2022 he was a volunteer and was wounded during service in Ukraine,” the TV company said.

ORF has already appealed to the Austrian Foreign Ministry and the Austrian Embassy in Kyiv for help. The agencies are working on resolving the problem.

Last autumn, media reported that in Chernivtsi region TCC employees beat German volunteer Mathias Prusak.