The “Municipal Guard” employees forcibly dragged activists away from the “Teremky” area. One of the women suffered a hand injury. Now the Kyiv City Council is proposing to disband this structure.
In September, work resumed on the construction of a heating main in “Teremky” on the site of a green zone. Activists who were against the felling of trees protested again.
On September 21, several women lay down on the ground to prevent the passage of equipment to the construction site. Representatives of the “Municipal Guard” forcibly dragged them away and carried them away.
Representatives of the “Municipal Guard” forcibly dragged away activists who were lying down in the area where the special equipment was passing.
Threads / s_sternenko
The very next day, another incident occurred: one of the activists — Tetyana Troshkina — reported that employees of the “Municipal Guard” injured her hand. She told Babel that she and another protester had entered the construction site to record on video what kind of work was being carried out.
“We didn’t resist, didn’t damage the equipment, didn’t interfere with the work. We were just there to film,” she claims.
Instead, the “Municipal Guard” employees began to pull them out of the area, grabbed her companion by the legs and torso and carried her out in this way.
“They also started grabbing my legs, I was pulling them out. And then one of them grabbed my hand and twisted it behind my back. While they were taking me out like that, he started twisting my fingers,” Tetyana tells Babel.
The video shows the guards dragging her by the arms. After the woman screamed that she was in pain and feeling bad, they lowered her to the ground.
Tetyana was taken by ambulance with a suspected broken arm. At the emergency room, she was diagnosed with a sprained ligament and put in a cast. Immediately after that, she filed a police report. The investigation is currently ongoing.
The "Municipal Guard" employees took Tetyana Troshkina out of the construction site, twisting her arm behind her back. She was diagnosed with a hand injury and put in a cast.
Facebook / Дмитро Перов; Personal archives of heroes / «Бабель»
Footage of these events instantly spread across social media. Questions arose. What is the “Municipal Guard” doing at the construction site? On what grounds is it using force?
The Kyiv City Council deputies Alina Mykhailova and Ksenia Semenova initiated the disbandment of the “Municipal Guard”.
Mykhailova called “not to cover up the existence of this structure with veterans”. She stated that in its current form, the organization “has turned into a forceful instrument of the city government” and that it is impractical to maintain it in conditions of war and resource conservation. In her opinion, the protection of communal and critical facilities should be transferred to other bodies.
A draft resolution on the liquidation of the organization has been registered in the Kyiv City Council. 61 deputy votes are needed for its adoption.
(We tried to get a comment from the deputies regarding their initiative, but they did not return calls.)
The "Municipal Guard" is a security company, but not a law enforcement agency (by function). However, security guards have the right to use force and traumatic weapons
Currently, "Municipal Guard" is a municipal organization that receives funding from the city budget. Its main task is to protect municipal property: schools, hospitals, administrative buildings, parks (a total of 1 296 objects). Although it is not always about the physical presence of guards at the facility, it can also be the so-called technical security (alarm and video surveillance system).
"Municipal Guard" is also engaged in the installation, maintenance and monitoring of such systems. 30 rapid response teams work on the streets around the clock, arriving at the scene if the alarm or panic button is triggered.
«Babel'»
In order to engage in security, a license from the Ministry of Internal Affairs is required, and the “Municipal Guard” has one.
Accordingly, its activities are regulated primarily by the law “On Security Activities”. It is distinguished from a regular security company by additional functions: for example, employees can draw up administrative protocols under certain articles. These protocols are then transferred to the relevant authorities, which decide whether to impose a fine on the violator.
In addition, the “Municipal Guards” check access to shelters, compliance with curfew rules, and assist at the sites of Russian attacks. The “Municipal Guard” operates the Center for Training for National Resistance, where courses in tactical medicine, drone piloting, and shooting are conducted.
According to the organization’s regulations, security guards can also patrol the streets and “assist the police in maintaining order”, but this does not mean that they can replace law enforcement agencies.
Security guards cannot independently stop a person on the street, ask for documents, or search things. The police and National Guard patrols have such powers, but not the “municipals”.
Therefore, if “municipal security guards” encounter curfew violators, they can only recommend that these people go home. If they witness other violations, they can only demand that they stop and call the police. Judging by posts on social media, most often in their work they have to deal with petty hooligans, drunk and rowdy, or lost elderly people.
But the guards have the right to use force and weapons. By law, they can use physical force and special means, such as gas canisters, rubber batons, plastic or textile disposable handcuffs, and traumatic pistols.
The “Municipal Guard” has all of these means. Guards at schools and other facilities have gas canisters, and rapid response teams also have rubber batons, tie-downs, body armor, and some (who have the appropriate license) have pistols with rubber bullets.
The use of force or special means is only possible when other measures have failed. The law allows this in the following main cases:
- To protect themselves, other people, or the property they are guarding.
- To apprehend an offender who illegally entered the facility.
Yes, security guards can detain those who illegally enter or attempt to enter a protected area (or commit illegal acts and resist). After that, they must immediately hand the person over to the police.
Outside a protected area, “municipals” can only detain a person who is committing a criminal offense. But all citizens have the right to such detention. This is called “public detention”.
The "Municipal Guard" employees conduct educational conversations with teenagers who drink alcohol. "Municipals" handed over to the police a woman whose phone contained photos of objects and checkpoints in Kyiv. "Municipals" used tear gas and plastic ties on a man who wanted to attack a woman in a park.
Facebook / КО Муніципальна охорона
As for injuries, the deputy head of the first operational response department of the “Municipal Guard” Vladyslav Oberemchuk says that they have never had to use them, and other means are used infrequently.
“The use of even a gas cylinder will turn into such a headache that it is better to swallow your resentment and not touch anyone. The investigation, explanation, analysis of the flights will be such that you will cross your fingers twenty times later and regret it,” says one of the guards, who spoke to us on condition of anonymity.
The Kyiv City State Administration says that the "Municipal Guard" watched the construction site in “Teremky”. And the women were dragged because they were concerned about their safety
The Kyiv City State Administration states that the “Municipal Guard” was sent to “Teremky” to “protect the facility, as well as to ensure public order and safety together with the police”.
The Kyiv City State Administration’s press service told us that the organization’s employees are protecting the construction site on the basis of an agreement with the customer for the construction of the backup heating network (i.e. “Kyivteploenergo”), as well as on the basis of a separate order from the acting first deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration Petro Panteleyev.
We asked for copies of these documents, but have not received them yet. We were also not told which units of the “Municipal Guard” are involved in protecting the construction.
Vladyslav Oberemchuk said that his subordinates — as well as representatives of other units — were at “Teremky”.
The Kyiv City State Administration explained the delay in the activists who were obstructing the passage of trucks by concern for their own safety: “The work of large-sized equipment, an open trench, building materials and metal structures create an increased risk for people who are in the work area.”
Oberemchuk stated that the women “threw themselves under the wheeled equipment”, and the guards allegedly only tried to prevent this.
The “Miller Law Firm” lawyer Sofia Chechel explains that the reference to womenʼs safety is not a legal basis for the use of force: "If people were really in danger, the most obvious solution was to stop the equipment. Neither the license of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, nor the contract with the customer, nor the officialʼs order give the ʼMunicipal Securityʼ police powers. Its employees have the same rights as any licensed security, and these rights are exhaustively defined by the law ʼOn Security Activitiesʼ. The Article 16 of this law allows the use of physical force only in a few cases, in particular to protect against an attack or to detain an offender with his subsequent transfer to the police. The women who were lying on the ground did not attack anyone, and no one tried to detain them. They were just pulled aside. The guards do not have such authority."
The lawyer added that police officers who were at the scene could demand that people leave the dangerous area.
“However, before using force, the police officer is obliged to warn and give time to comply with the request, and force itself is permissible only as a last resort and proportionate means,” she explained.
The National Police is constantly on duty at the construction site in “Teremky”.
Facebook / Богдан Гдаль
As for the case of Tetyana Troshkina and another activist who were taken out of the construction site, according to Sofia Chechel, there were no legal grounds for this either: “Videorecording the construction is a legitimate exercise of the right to collect information, guaranteed by Article 34 of the Constitution. The guards had the right to demand that the women leave the area, and they agreed, asking only to call the police. This is exactly the procedure required by law: if a guard detains a person at the site, he is obliged to immediately notify the police and hand over the detainee to them. Could the guards have taken the women out on their own, without the police? They can escort a person to the exit if they are leaving alone. But they cannot take them out by force, because the law does not give the guards the right to forcibly remove them. If a person refuses to leave the site, the guard must prevent them from leaving and call the police. In addition, the law obliges the guards to limit themselves to causing minimal harm. The actions of three men who tie one woman down and twist her fingers do not meet this requirement."
The leadership of the “Municipal Guard” does not give an assessment of the events in “Teremky”, citing the fact that an official inspection is still underway. It is to be conducted by the Department of “Municipal Guard”.
Klitschko said that he also appealed to the police to provide a legal assessment of the actions of the “municipals”. There are no results of these inspections yet. For the guards — unlike the police — there is no specific liability for exceeding their official powers. If the inspection reveals violations in their actions, they will be held accountable on general grounds, like ordinary citizens.
The “Municipal Guard” responded to the wave of dissatisfaction with the actions of their employees by declaring political pressure.
They separately responded to accusations from social media users about “evaders”, mentioning that the organization employs over 200 veterans: “No one has the right to label people who have been to the front, were wounded, lost comrades, or are currently in the army as ʼevadersʼ.”
The history of the Kyiv “Municipal Guards” actually began with veterans and another structure with a kind of similar name — “Municipal Security”. Previously, this formation was closely connected with the municipal guard, but then their paths diverged. Now, representatives of the “Municipal Security” distance themselves from the actions of the guards who dragged away the activists at “Teremky”.
“I have invested a lot of personal time and soul into the development of this formation, and it saddens me to see many mentions [in the context of the events in ʼTeremkyʼ] of the ʼMunicipal Securityʼ, which has absolutely nothing to do with these events. We have been working on our reputation for years. If any of us survive this war and return, we will try to reanimate the activities of the ʼMunicipal Securityʼ. It is important for us that people understand: what is happening now has nothing to do with us,” says one of the formation’s co-founders Oleksiy Diudenko, who is currently serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
One of the founders of the “Municipal Security” (and a former employee of the “Municipal Guard”) Oleksiy Diudenko.
Facebook / Alex Dyudenko
Kyiv residents, who returning from the ATO zone, united to patrol the streets. Klitschko gave them funding [for this]
In 2017, Kyiv residents returning from the ATO zone created their own public formation to patrol the streets and maintain order in the city, says one of the initiators Oleksiy Diudenko. It seemed to them that the police were not coping with these tasks very effectively.
In addition, such activities helped veterans to socialize better upon returning home, the founders believed.
“We attracted as many veterans as possible, most of whom had nowhere to go but to ʼtitushkiʼ,” says another initiator Ihor Mari.
Vitaliy Klitschko presented certificates to the first representatives of the "Municipal Guard" who took the oath. Ihor Mari takes the oath as a member of the "Municipal Guard".
The formation was officially registered and named “Municipal Guard”. The veteran community also reached an understanding with the Kyiv administration and agreed on funding from the city budget. In the same 2017, the Kyiv City Council created the municipal enterprise “Municipal Guard”. Later, it received a license for security activities, that is, in essence, the status of a security company. Some of the participants of “Municipal Guard” got a job there ( although not all ).
In fact, Klitschko sought to create a municipal police in Kyiv — a law enforcement agency subordinate not to the central, but to local authorities. This was part of his election program in 2014 and 2015, and later he repeatedly mentioned that Kyiv needed such an agency. Municipal police exist in many countries around the world, but in Ukraine there was no corresponding law that would allow local authorities to create such a structure. In the first years of Klitschkoʼs mayoralty, changes to the legislation were actively discussed, but in the end the idea was abandoned. There were fears that such formations in the regions could be used by Russia in a hybrid war. Without waiting for the changes, municipal law enforcement structures were created in many cities of Ukraine, in particular in nine regional centers.
The law did not give these structures real law enforcement powers. But in Kyiv there was a symbiosis of the municipal enterprise “Municipal Security” and the public formation “Municipal Guard”. The same people in the status of employees of the municipal enterprise guarded schools, kindergartens, parks and some critical infrastructure facilities and received a salary for it. In the status of “guards” — in their free time from work, they participated in patrolling the streets or maintaining order during mass events. According to the law “On the participation of citizens in the protection of public order and the state border”, members of such formations had additional powers — for example, they could carry weapons and detain people for administrative offenses. So both structures continued to function in parallel.
It was difficult to distinguish where the communal enterprise ended and the public formation began. When the enterprise was audited, the auditors indicated that both peopleʼs belongings were kept in the same place and it was impossible to establish which ones belonged to which. The head of both structures was the same person — Ihor Mari.
In the center are Ihor Mari and Vitaliy Klitschko, 2014.
Facebook / Ігор Маріо
The first years of cooperation with the Kyiv City State Administration are called fruitful and positive by the veteran formation members. The “Coyotes” conducted raids on “drinkers”, helped parking inspectors fine violators, conducted “educational conversations” with drinkers in parks, searched for missing people or detained pickpockets. And during the Covid epidemic, they checked how businesses and Kyiv residents were adhering to quarantine rules. They also helped residents of Mykilska Slobidka defend the coastal zone from development.
Igor Mari supported Klitschko and claimed that he did a lot for veterans. When journalists pointed out that "Munvarta" was called Klitschkoʼs personal army, he jokingly said: "Have you seen our mayor? Do you think he needs a security structure?"
Vitaliy Klitschko and Ihor Mari have many photos together.
Facebook / Ігор Маріо; Facebook / Муніципальна Варта Києва
However, according to Oleksiy Dyudenko, the “municipalities” received certain “proposals” from the Kyiv authorities — regarding participation in dubious events. “These proposals, of course, were rejected,” he says. Oleksiy does not name specific names or places, but says that this was related to issues of land and development. Ihor Mari confirms that there were “proposals,” but also refuses to name specific cases, because he has no evidence, and he does not want to be unfounded. According to him, these proposals did not come from the mayor, but from “circles around the government.” However, thanks to “direct dialogue with the mayor,” such proposals were avoided, he claims.
It cannot be said that the reputation of “Munvarta” was crystal clear. Ideologically, the composition of the formation was not homogeneous. Among the representatives were supporters of right-wing views. One of the leaders of the district cell was Serhiy Bondar (also a member of the far-right formation C14). He came to light during the dispersal of the Roma camp near the railway station. In general, the “municipals” had a special relationship with the Roma people. Ihor Mari said that he received a letter from the ombudsman, in which he was asked not to use an outdated and incorrect ethnonym in relation to the Roma in public communication. Today, on the social networks of “Munvarta” you can find posts about Roma offenders under the hashtag #ихвсеоднонесадят.
One of the high-profile scandals that accompanied the “Municipal Guard” was related to the “Kyiv” cinema. In 2019, the Kyiv City State Administration called in the “municipal guards” to evict a former tenant from the building. On June 7, they came to the building together with representatives of the Kyiv City State Administration, supposedly to “take an inventory of the property.” In response, the former tenant declared a raider seizure. Many activists and representatives of the cultural and artistic community took his side. One of the videos shows how a representative of the “Municipal Guard” grabbed director Mykola Bazarkin by the neck, who was trying to enter the building. At the same time, according to the guards at the time, during those events they also had to deal with real “aunts”. Ten people who tried to break into the building were detained by the police — there was a video online of them being taken out of the cinema.
The "Municipal Guard" employees do not allow activists and former tenants into the Kyiv cinema building, June 7, 2019.
Facebook / Культурний центр "Кінотеатр "Київ"
Two former employees of the "Municipal Security" say that the leadership of the Kyiv City State Administration misled them in that situation. They were explained that the cinema would return to the ownership of the community and resume work. But as a result, "Kyiv" has been standing empty for the eighth year.
Change of leadership and conflict with the Kyiv City State Administration
The confrontation between the core of the “Municipal Guard” and the Kyiv City State Administration began at the end of 2021. Before that, in September, Klitschko appointed the former head of the Kyiv police department, Andriy Kryshchenko, as his deputy. In the Kyiv City State Administration, he was to be responsible for municipal security issues, so “Municipal Guard” ended up under his supervision. Serhiy Chernyshev became the head of the enterprise — he and Kryshchenko worked together in the Donetsk Oblast police, and then in the Kyiv police. Ihor Mari, then already the deputy director, and his associates did not accept the new leader and publicly spoke out against him.
Serhiy Chernyshev caused a scuffle with the then head of the legal department Rodion Trystan.
Facebook / Муніципальна Варта Києва
They accused Chernyshev of hiring people with “dubious reputations ” or “ criminal pasts ” and allegedly firing disloyal people. They also complained that after the change of manager, they were not paid their salaries on time or in full. In January, a demand was published on the Municipal Guard page to fire Chernyshev. This did not happen.
Vladislav Oberemchuk, who was a security guard at the time and is now the deputy head of the department, explains the events differently. He says that the rank-and-file employees actually wanted changes, and Chernyshev supposedly proposed his own plan for the organization’s development. He also claims that at that time, “on the instructions of Igor Mari,” employees were removed from the facilities and “driven to rallies against the new leadership.”
The conflict did not end in anything. Soon a full-scale war began — most of the employees of the "Municipal Guard" went to the front, among them Marie and her comrades. At this point, the activities of the "Municipal Guard" in Kyiv practically stopped. But the "Municipal Guard" continued to flourish.
Members of the “Municipal Guard” in the army after the start of full-scale war.
Facebook / Муніципальна Варта Києва
The leadership of the Municipal Guard still positions it as a veteransʼ organization, claiming that it "facilitates the employment of demobilized war veterans." In 2021, according to Klitschko, 90 percent of the ATO participants were in the ranks of the "munochorants." However, now veterans are not the main personnel of the organization.
- The organization includes 207 people with the status of veterans and combatants, that is, about 15 percent of the employees (today, 1,409 people work in the Municipal Guard).
- Another 373 employees were mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but are still formally registered as employees.
- There are 361 reserved employees in the organization, which is 26 percent of the actual number of employees.
Expenditures on "Municipal Security" have increased to almost 905 million hryvnias per year, in fact, all of this amount is salaries
One of the arguments of the initiators of the disbandment of the “Municipal Guard” Alina Mykhaylova and Ksenia Semenova is high costs. “We constantly talk about the lack of funds. For assistance to the military. For veterans and their families. For rehabilitation. For housing programs. For the critical needs of the city. For the lack of mobilization resources, in particular. At the same time, Kyiv continues to finance a separate structure with a staff of up to 1,600 people, some of whose functions overlap with the functions of law enforcement agencies,” wrote Alina Mykhaylova.
Alina Mykhailova Ksenia Semenova
Facebook / Alina Mykhailova; Facebook / Ксенія Семенова
When the Kyiv City Council voted to create this organization in 2017, Klitschko explained that it would help the city save on security services — before that, they were outsourced. “The city now pays almost 300 million hryvnias a year for the protection of municipal property! This KP will help reduce costs significantly!” the mayor claimed.
Then, the “Municipal Security” was allocated UAH 2.5 million from the city budget for authorized capital. It was assumed that the company would earn money for its activities independently — by providing security services to municipal facilities. But since 2019, the city has begun to regularly finance the company from the budget. Moreover, the Kyiv City Council gave the “Municipal Security” the exclusive right to protect some municipal facilities without a tender (the list of such facilities was constantly expanded). The Antimonopoly Committee saw this as a violation of the law. Previously, the same facilities were protected by companies that won the tender, and it was not the city that paid for it, but the institutions themselves — schools, hospitals, etc. The AMCU wanted to oblige the Kyiv City Council to hold an open competition again. The Kyiv City Council tried for a long time to appeal this decision in the courts, but ultimately lost.
But another way was found to circumvent the AMCUʼs decision: to transform "Municipal Security" from a municipal enterprise into a municipal organization — that is, into a non-profit legal entity that is funded from the budget. Since it does not sell services, it formally does not have anti-competitive actions that the AMCU prohibited.
Over seven years, Kyivʼs spending on "Munohorona" has increased more than tenfold — from UAH 78 million to UAH 905 million in 2026.
«Babel'»
The organization’s staff has also increased significantly in recent years — from 600 people in 2021 to 1,600 in 2026. This is mainly security personnel (guards, response team drivers, observation point personnel) — about 90 percent of the staff. The rest are administrative staff and employees of the National Resistance Center. According to the strategic plan, in 2028 they wanted to increase the staff to 1,900. We asked the organization on what basis such an expansion was planned, but did not receive an answer. For comparison, the municipal rescue service “Kyiv Rescue Service”, which is subordinate to the same department as the “municipalities”, has only 196 employees.
«Babel'»
About 80-90 percent of the operating costs of the Municipal Security Service are employee salaries and social contributions. The organization says that the average monthly salary as of 2026 is 26,950 UAH (after taxes). On the job search website, ordinary security guards in the organization are offered a salary of 23-30 thousand (although they do not specify whether this is a salary in cash). The average salary of security guards in Kyiv, according to the Work.ua portal, is 26,800 UAH.
One of the employees of Munokhrona, who spoke to Babel anonymously, said that the rate for working as a security guard is 70 hryvnias per hour. Working nine hours a day, five days a week, a security guard can earn only 12,600 hryvnias. The rest is allowances, which, according to him, are assigned in a non-transparent manner. He provided Babel with documents showing that he requested a labor commission to discuss the principle of calculating these allowances, but was refused.
So is the city spending too much on “Municipal Security”? Since the organization’s main task is to protect property, it is most appropriate to compare it with structures that have the same functions. These are private security companies and the state Security Police. The Security Police has 13 percent more employees in Kyiv and a 12 percent larger budget — at the same time, it protects 57 times more facilities. The Sheriff firm has 30 percent more employees in Kyiv and protects 23 times more facilities. This significant difference in the number of facilities could be explained by the fact that “Municipal Security” keeps more guards directly at the facilities. However, the organization did not provide an answer as to how many facilities from their list provide for physical security. Moreover, it is not the type of security that is important, but its effectiveness. The audit service could assess this.
«Babel'»
Events continue in Teremki. Now there is a conflict between protesters and police.
Meanwhile, the situation in Teremki has escalated again — but now the conflict is between protesters and the National Police. On September 27, a scuffle broke out at the construction site of a heating main. Architect Ulyana Dzhurlyak, who is against the felling of trees, said that a policeman hit her. At the same time, the police accused some participants in the protests of provocations. After those events, activist and veteran Lyubomyr Dmytryshyn was searched and, according to his lawyers, “physical force was used without reason.” The court ordered him to be placed under house arrest.
Clashes broke out between police officers and protesters in “Teremky”area on September 27, 2026.
Facebook / Дмитро Перов
Lawyer Sofia Chechel believes that in the situation with the “Municipal Guard” the police were the ones with the most questions. “They were there, but they allowed the guards to act beyond their authority. A similar situation has already become the subject of consideration by the European Court of Human Rights in the case “Chernega and Others v. Ukraine”. At that time, in Kharkiv, the municipal “Municipal Guard” also pushed protesters away from construction equipment during the clearing of the park, and the police did not intervene. The court found that Ukraine had violated the right to peaceful assembly.”