All it took was one event near Kyiv and unconfirmed accusations for MP Konrad Berkowicz to publicly announce on social media that he had uncovered secret prisons in which mobilized Ukrainians are allegedly being held, and even children allegedly being tortured. The problem is that available media accounts present a completely different picture of the events. Instead of a reliable verification of the facts, we got a false message that fits the pattern of Russia’s information war.
From an unconfirmed report to an accusation of torturing children. How Konrad Berkowicz built his story about Ukraine
Two nighttime posts published less than two hours apart were enough for a local incident near Kyiv to become, in MP Konrad Berkowicz’s narrative, proof of the existence of secret prisons, the torture of mobilized soldiers, and the harming of children by the Ukrainian state. The problem is that the most serious accusations have not been confirmed.
Nighttime posts by the Confederation MP
On 2 November 2026, Confederation MP Konrad Berkowicz published two social media posts about events in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka near Kyiv. He posted the first at 2:02: “Kyiv, now. Secret prisons for mobilized Ukrainians have been discovered. One of them is a 14-year-old child. How many such prisons are still hidden, how many people are being held, how many children are being tortured? Mr. Sikorski, Mr. Tusk, Mr. Kosiniak—will you keep embracing the Bandera government? Will Czarzasty keep shouting Bandera slogans in the Ukrainian parliament?”
At 3:44 another post appeared: “Europe and the whole world must see this. In a secret prison near Kyiv, the youngest person tortured was 14 years old. This is the true face of today’s Ukraine. The world must see this.”
The difference between the two publications is extremely significant. In the first, the MP, alongside the categorical statement about the discovery of secret prisons, asks questions about their number and the number of allegedly tortured people. In the second, he no longer leaves room for doubt. The secret prison and the tortured fourteen-year-old are presented as facts, and a single incident becomes the basis for judging the entire Ukrainian state.
In the second post, Berkowicz still does not provide any new evidence to support his accusations. What changes above all is the way the information is presented: an unverified report is turned into a categorical statement and then into a political indictment of Ukraine. Particularly telling is the call for Europe and the whole world to see the information. The MP constructs a message directed at international public opinion, whose meaning is unambiguous: Ukraine is a country where people are systematically imprisoned and children are tortured.
What really happened near Kyiv?
The incident occurred on 2 November in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, a locality in Kyiv Oblast. A private building housed a temporary deployment point for soldiers from one of the units of the Ukrainian National Guard.
During the day, information began appearing on social media about around 40 people allegedly being held in the building’s basement. Accusations emerged of unlawful deprivation of liberty, beatings, torture, and obstructing access to medical assistance. These reports caused an uproar among residents, who gathered in front of the property. Riots broke out.
Kyiv Oblast police confirmed that they intervened following a report from staff of a private ambulance, who said that access to one person was being obstructed. Officers determined that National Guard soldiers were in the building. At the same time, the police stated that reports of people being unlawfully held and of a person’s death were not true.
National Guard commander Oleksandr Pivnenko explained in a special statement that the building contained mobilized soldiers awaiting further assignment to a training center, as well as servicemen who had previously left their units without authorization. Pivnenko confirmed that four soldiers required medical assistance and were taken to hospital.
The 1st Corps of the National Guard “Azov,” to which the unit belonged, reported that the building served as a temporary deployment point for soldiers. It also confirmed the injuries of four soldiers and announced that consequences would follow if unlawful use of force is confirmed.
A fourteen-year-old — from being present at the scene to a “tortured child”
The most emotionally charged element of Berkowicz’s posts is the story of a 14-year-old boy. In the first publication, the MP described him as a child being held in a secret prison. In the second, he wrote that the boy had been the youngest victim of torture.
What is really known about the teenager?
During the riots outside the building, the boy ended up on its premises. He got onto the property by climbing a tree and getting over the fence. In the evening, Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, arrived at the scene and spoke with him personally. According to reports by Ukrainian media, the teenager said that he came there “with the guys.” Budanov contacted his family, who were to pick the boy up. One of the participants in the gathering shouted that the teenager had been thrown off the fence and beaten. Budanov promised to clarify the matter.
Rumors also appeared on social media about him being beaten with a shovel and the boy being in serious condition. They were not confirmed. No credible evidence was presented either that the teenager was a prisoner, that he was held in a basement, or that he was tortured by Ukrainian soldiers.
Many similar buildings – an important statement by Budanov
There is one more important thread in this whole matter that, regardless of Berkowicz’s propaganda narrative, should not be overlooked. During the conversation with the participants in the gathering, Budanov was asked about the existence of similar facilities. He replied that there are many such buildings. He also announced that the rules of their operation and what happens inside would be clarified. Budanov’s statement itself does not confirm the existence of a network of secret prisons, but it is an important signal that the functioning of such facilities requires clarification and oversight.
The events in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka did not end with a police statement and a declaration by the command of the National Guard. Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Ivan Vyhowski, ordered an internal inquiry, which was to cover, among other things, the conditions of the troops’ stay in the building. Representatives of the State Bureau of Investigation and the prosecutor’s office were working on site. The case also drew the attention of the Office of the Soldiers’ Rights Ombudsman.
This is important because it confirms that Ukrainian institutions did not limit themselves to denying the most far-reaching allegations. It was announced that the conditions of the soldiers’ stay and the circumstances of the entire incident would be checked.
How did a local incident become an accusation against an entire state?
Berkowicz’s posts show a mechanism that is worth analyzing regardless of how the proceedings regarding the events near Kyiv ultimately end. First, information appears about the alleged unlawful detention of people. Then further, increasingly dramatic elements are added to it: basements, torture, serious injuries, and a 14-year-old child. Later, a single incident is presented as proof of the existence of an entire system of secret prisons. Finally, it is generalized: here is the “true face of today’s Ukraine.”
In this way, the recipient stops analyzing the specific event. Instead of asking what happened in one building, they are given a ready-made image of a state in which its own citizens are supposedly commonly tortured.
This is a mechanism of information manipulation: using an unverified event, giving it the maximum emotional significance, and then shifting responsibility from specific individuals to the entire state and its institutions. The author of such a message acts in the interests of Russian propaganda centers. Perhaps they do so unconsciously, but still. Berkowicz’s message is extremely similar to the patterns used in Russia’s information war. There are, of course, no grounds to attribute cooperation with Russia to Berkowicz. One can, however, assess the content of his statements and point out that presenting unconfirmed accusations as proven crimes objectively reinforces a message that undermines Ukraine’s credibility.
“Banderite government,” i.e., from the events near Kyiv to an attack on Polish politics
It seems that Berkowicz did not coincidentally connect the story from Petropavlivska Borshchahivka with an attack on Radosław Sikorski, Donald Tusk, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and Włodzimierz Czarzasty.
Referring to the Ukrainian government as “Banderite” is meant to undermine the legitimacy of the Ukrainian authorities and portray maintaining relations with Ukraine as morally unacceptable. In Berkowicz’s second post, there is already a call for the whole world to see the message. In this way, a local incident is used to build an international accusation against Ukraine.
Facts first, then accusations
The case in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka of course requires further clarification. Four soldiers were hospitalized, allegations of improper treatment of soldiers appeared, and Ukrainian institutions announced inspections and proceedings. However, it has not been confirmed that a network of secret prisons was found, that a fourteen-year-old boy was a prisoner, or that he was tortured by Ukrainian soldiers.
Berkowicz’s disinformation
Fighting disinformation begins with verifying information, not fitting it to a preconceived thesis—especially when the author of such a message is a member of parliament and his words reach thousands of recipients.
Berkowicz’s nighttime posts are a classic mechanism of manipulation, but he is not an anonymous social media user. He is an MP whose statements reach thousands of recipients and can influence how international events are perceived. A person holding public office should be expected to exercise particular diligence in checking information, especially when it concerns allegations as serious as torture, illegal prisons, and harming children.
Before publishing, the MP should have checked what the building actually was, who had been staying there, where the accusations came from, whether the presence of prisoners had been confirmed, and whether there was any evidence at all of a 14-year-old being tortured. He should also have taken into account information about the actions of the police, the National Guard command, and the bodies conducting explanatory proceedings. He did not do so. Instead, he presented the most sensational version of events, without informing the audience about key circumstances that undermined it.
This is not about the possibility that a Confederation MP made a mistake. It is about the lack of any visible fact-checking before publicly making very serious accusations. If the MP has evidence of the existence of secret prisons, the torture of children, and the systemic unlawful detention of mobilized people, he should present it. He should point to credible sources, documents, witnesses, and the results of independent findings. If he does not have such evidence, he should correct his statement. Otherwise, the question remains why the MP decided to spread an unverified narrative that aligns with the goals of Russia’s information war.
Berkowicz’s late-night posts lead to portraying Ukraine as a country where secret prisons exist, where children are tortured, citizens are unlawfully detained, and basic human rights are not respected. Such an image matches one of the main goals of Russia’s information war: undermining Ukraine’s credibility, weakening trust in its institutions, and persuading foreign societies that a state defending itself against Russian aggression is itself unworthy of support. We know perfectly well whom such a narrative serves.
Sources: Suspilne – The situation around Petropavlivska Borshchahivka serves Russia’s interests; UNN News – Mobilized personnel were temporarily housed in a building near Kyiv before being sent for training; DW – 40 people allegedly held in a village near Kyiv; Ukrinform – Azov commented on the events in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka; Pravda – Shots were fired near a National Guard of Ukraine stationing point in Kyiv; Budanov arrived at the scene; TSN – Scandal near Kyiv: how Budanov negotiated with protesters and what happened to the 14-year-old; Hromadske – “Bring people out here!” What is happening in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka, where mass clashes broke out?; Slidstvo.Info – “There were no torture sites there.” What was happening in the building in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka and where the statements about a “torture chamber” came from; Pravda – Interior Minister: the conditions of soldiers’ stay in the building in the Kyiv region will be checked; Interfax – All soldiers in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka are safe; an inspection has been ordered – Ombudsman; Pravda – Clashes in Petropavlivska Borshchahivka. “Azov” explained that the building held mobilized soldiers and servicemen detained after unauthorized leaving of their units; Interfax – The Interior Minister ordered an internal investigation into the events in the Kyiv region and urged people not to spread false information
Journalist, columnist, author of books about Ukraine, tour guide, and commentator on developments in Ukraine and Polish-Ukrainian relations.
A certified guide to Odesa, the Odesa catacombs, Ukrainian Bessarabia, and Kyiv. He is the author of numerous publications on Ukraine’s history, culture, and contemporary affairs, some of which have been translated into Ukrainian and published in Ukraine. In 2020, he received the honorary title of Ambassador of Odesa in Poland from the Mayor of Odesa.
On 24 February 2022, the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he was in Odesa. He remained there for several months, helping coordinate humanitarian aid and reporting on the war for Polish media outlets. He described his experiences during this period in his book Odessa 4.5.0.
At Nowiny Wschodnie, he publishes articles and commentary on the Russo-Ukrainian war, Russian propaganda and disinformation, Ukrainian history, particularly that of Odesa, as well as Polish-Ukrainian relations and changing public attitudes.
He collaborates with Ukrainian newsrooms and online news outlets and appears in Polish media as a commentator on Ukrainian affairs.
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