Claims of a Ukrainian ‘torture chamber’ went viral. What really happened?

Petropavlivska-Borshchagivka, Ukraine – A woman wearing a crisp new paramedic’s uniform and impeccable makeup kneels on the ground in front of several police officers guarding the rusty gates of a two-storey house. She begs, yells and curses, claiming that forcibly conscripted men are being held in the building in the tranquil suburb of Petropavlivska-Borshchagivka, outside the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

One of the men has already died, claims the woman, who was later identified as Valentyna Moloda, a 49-year-old nurse who once worked at a plastic surgery clinic and has never been authorised to practise as a paramedic. The ambulance she arrived in carries the logos of a private medical company that reportedly stopped operating in 2023.

A woman from Moloda’s “ambulance team” livestreams the scene as a crowd swells, joining in her chants demanding access to what she calls a “torture chamber.” “I’m on my knees, let me get to them,” Moloda screams, claiming that “armed people” allegedly “torture” 40 people inside who had evaded the draft.