Ukrainian authorities have arrested a woman who sparked a viral scandal by claiming men seized for conscription were being tortured in a suburban house outside Kyiv, officials say the episode was staged.

Valentyna Moloda, described as a 49 year old nurse not authorised to work as a paramedic, knelt before police at a two storey house in Petropavlivska Borshchagivka and alleged that armed captors were holding dozens of draft evaders, with at least one already dead. An ambulance marked with logos of a private firm said to have closed years earlier stood nearby as a companion livestreamed and a crowd swelled into the hundreds.

Protesters threw eggs and tomatoes, clashed with officers into the night and pushed a narrative that spread worldwide among critics of Ukraine's draft. Conscription teams are widely disliked for harsh methods, which helped the claim catch fire before facts caught up.

Officials now say the rescue was fake and prepared in advance. Ukraine's intelligence leadership said Moloda and a driver had scouted the property days earlier. Investigators argue the house was not a torture site and that the performance was built to inflame.

The affair leaves a double wound. It exposed raw anger over how men are pulled into a grinding war with Russia. It also showed how quickly an unverified livestream can shape foreign perceptions of a country fighting for survival. Courts and police will now test the fraud case while commanders still face a public that distrusts the draft.