MOSCOW, November 6. /TASS/. The driver detained from actress Angelina Jolie’s motorcade is still being held at a Ukrainian Territorial Recruitment Center (TRC is Ukraine’s equivalent to a military enlistment office), having only recently been moved from a basement, the driver said in a personal message published by the channel Kiev 24.
After sharing screenshots of an Instagram conversation (the platform is banned in Russia due to its ownership by Meta, which has been designated as extremist) with the detained man, Dmitry Pishchikov, his friend noted that he had been in possession of proper documents, including a military medical commission’s conclusion. "At least they took me out of the basement," the detainee wrote.
Earlier, the UNIAN news agency, citing sources within the Ukrainian ground forces, reported that the detainee is a Ukrainian citizen born in 1992. He was stopped at a checkpoint near Yuzhnoukrainsk in the Nikolayev Region. According to the source, he was found to be lacking military registration papers and was subsequently taken to a TRC, where checks allegedly revealed his status as a reserve officer who was ineligible for a deferment. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Hromadske - News media outlet cited the detainee’s brother, who stated that he suffers from a spinal condition and has medical clearance limiting his service to rear logistics units.
UNIAN’s sources added that, following the procedures at the TRC, Jolie’s group continued their trip, while the driver was detained for mobilization.
Earlier, TASS reported that Jolie’s team had contacted Vladimir Zelensky’s office in an attempt to secure the driver’s release during her visit to the Kherson Region.