Court places former football player Kolesnyk under night house arrest for suspected beating of TCC employee

A court has ordered a preventive measure in the form of night-time house arrest for Danylo Kolesnyk, a former FC Kolos player suspected of beating a Territorial Recruitment Center (TCC) employee, the Kyiv region police told the agency.

"He has been served with a notice of suspicion, and the court chose a preventive measure in the form of night-time house arrest," the regional police noted on Thursday.

As reported, on February 17, a video of a scandal involving Kolesnyk, a TCC serviceman, and a police officer appeared on social media. The footballer posted the relevant clip on his own Instagram page. The footage also captured the footballer striking the TCC employee.

The Kyiv Regional TCC and Social Support Center reacted almost immediately to the incident, noting that Kolesnyk’s behavior stands in sharp contrast to the actions of Ukrainian athletes who defend the country’s honor on the international stage.

On February 18, the communication department of the Kyiv region police reported that officers detained the former footballer who had inflicted bodily injuries on a serviceman, a TCC employee, in the Bucha district during a conflict. Investigators, under the procedural guidance of the Bucha District Prosecutor’s Office, launched a pre-trial investigation into the intentional infliction of beatings or causing light or moderate bodily harm (Part 2 of Article 350 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. The suspect faces up to five years in prison for the act.

Later, Kolesnyk himself stated that he did not attack the TCC and Social Support Center employees but was defending himself against "unprovoked aggression" from military commissars, and subsequently appeared at the police station voluntarily.