By Dan Peleschuk
KYIV, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Ukraine is investigating clashes that erupted late on Monday between protesters and authorities at a military dormitory near Kyiv, officials said on Tuesday, saying they believed the incident had been engineered to discredit Ukraine's war effort.
Officials said a crowd of around 100 people gathered late on Monday at a National Guard base housing nearly two dozen new draftees and soldiers brought back from unauthorised leave, following social media reports of alleged torture and violence against recruits there.
Some members of the crowd attacked service personnel and police who had arrived at the scene, authorities said, prompting the National Guard commander and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff to visit the site.
State investigators and the military ombudsman's office said they were trying to determine the circumstances of how the 22 men, four of whom required medical attention, had been drafted or detained after taking the unauthorised leave.
Ukraine's draft has been marred by reports of abuse and corruption — frequently amplified by Russian social media and state outlets. Conscription officers and centres have also been attacked.
Later on Tuesday, the deputy head of Ukraine's domestic security service said Monday's incident had been engineered to free one of the men and spark a public outcry, news agency Interfax Ukraine reported.
Investigators have opened a criminal case on charges of mass riots and impeding the work of the military, Ukraine's national police chief said at a briefing.
At the same briefing, Ukraine's interior minister said the allegations of torture at the military dormitory were fake, Interfax reported.
'TENSION IN SOCIETY'
Ukrainian media aired video showing a crowd that included hooded men swarm the building amid the crackle of gunfire and chants of "Shame!" It was not clear who fired the shots. Some protesters also rocked a National Guard bus and smashed its windows.
Speaking on Ukrainian television on Tuesday, Zelenskiy adviser Kyrylo Budanov said the chief instigator — a woman dressed as an emergency medic — had been detained. He said she had previously scouted the location.
Budanov also said that while the clashes seemed like a deliberate provocation, they had also revealed "problems" that needed to be addressed.
"Yes, on the one hand there are provocateurs, but on the other hand there is tension in society," he said, without providing any further details.
Monday's flare-up underscores how Ukraine's call-up, which is critical to its defence against Russia's much bigger army, remains a lightning rod for criticism.
Despite recent battlefield successes, Ukraine's military is struggling to reform a Soviet-era military culture to embrace a more troop-friendly approach in the fifth year of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Military ombudsman Olha Reshetylova said those who had come under attack on Monday included battle-hardened veterans and former prisoners of war.
"Whether we will be able to restore trust between the military and society, which has once again been undermined by yesterday's events, is an open question," she wrote on Facebook.
(Additional reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Gareth Jones)
