‘We were hostages’: a paramedic in Odesa explained what preceded the fight with the military commissars

An Odessa paramedic recounted the fight with employees of the territorial recruitment center and the events leading up to it.

According to Bohdan Velychko, upon arriving at the call at the territorial recruitment center, the medics saw a man with head injuries, nausea, and in poor physical condition.

The military insisted that the man did not need medical assistance and did not allow him to be taken to the hospital.

When the medics tried to take the man out of the territorial recruitment center, the military attacked them, twisting their arms, attempting to put handcuffs on them, and forcing them to sit on a bench.

Subsequently, the man himself refused hospitalization, stating that he did so in hopes that “at least the medics would be released,” but the recruitment center employees announced that they would begin checking the medical team’s documents and issue draft notices to everyone.

“We were held hostage there for four hours,” Velychko said.

Following this, he said, the ambulance staff contacted their colleagues, who then came to the territorial recruitment center to rescue the detained medics. A brawl ensued, during which the “hostages” were released.

Earlier, a large-scale scandal erupted in Odessa between medics and representatives of the territorial recruitment center. It was reported that a doctor and a paramedic were illegally detained at one of the military enlistment offices, leading to the arrival of numerous medical teams in protest, which resulted in a brawl.