TRC employees detained in Odesa. Investigators claim they kidnapped a man and demanded $30 000 (UPD)

On the afternoon of April 21, employees of the Territorial Recruit Center (TRC) were detained in Odesa. After that, an official investigation began.

This was reported by the press service of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The heads of the Odesa TRC and the Peresypsky District TRC have been suspended from service. Investigations and inspections will be conducted by the head of the Main Directorate of the Military Law Enforcement Service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and law enforcement officers.

The Odesa TRC confirmed that the military was detained. The department added that they will cooperate with law enforcement officers.

The Prosecutor Generalʼs Office and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) later provided details. According to investigators, the suspects kidnapped the man in the afternoon and forcibly put him on a bus on Prokhorovska Street. In addition, while the man was being driven around the city, he was beaten, threatened with violence, and demanded $30 000.

SBU claims that a criminal group, including military personnel, extorted money from people, and when they refused, they beat them and threatened to send them to the front line in stormtroopers. The group worked on a tip from a local who worked at the TRC and was looking for potential victims.

During the special operation, law enforcement officers detained five people, four of whom were TRC employees. When they resisted, law enforcement officers shot at the wheels.

The suspects are going to be charged under Part 4 of Article 189 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (extortion that caused property damage in particularly large amounts, or committed by an organized group under martial law). They face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

What preceded

Local Telegram channels distributed a video in which the SBU detained employees of TRC. At the time, they wrote that this happened on Balkivska Street. Shots were also allegedly heard.

Later, Suspilne, citing its own sources in SBU, reported that eight representatives of the Peresypsky TRC and a law enforcement officer were detained. Sources claim that this special operation by SBU was planned.

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