Members of the 'people's guard' who brutally murdered two citizens of Kharkiv region will stand trial

SBI officials have completed a pre-trial investigation against two suspects who brutally murdered local residents during the occupation of Khotimlia village in Chuhuiv district. Two other accomplices have been put on the wanted list.

The indictment has been submitted to the court.

According to the investigation, during the occupation of the village, a former law enforcement officer, an employee of the State Emergency Service and two civilians decided that they would not wait for the russians to organise the occupation authorities and created a so-called "people's guard". Their aim was to control everything that happened there and to restore 'order' as they saw fit.

People suspected of theft by the 'vigilantes' were severely punished.

For example, in March 2022, the perpetrators, lacking sufficient arguments, decided to "teach a lesson" to a local man and woman who had allegedly stolen something. They used a bat and wooden and metal sticks to demonstrate their point. After breaking into the victims' house, they immediately started beating them. But the beating did not stop there.

Half-conscious, the victims were dragged to a local lake and thrown into the water from a steep bank. As the victims still showed signs of life, the group decided to beat them to death. To do this, they threw fragments of a concrete foundation on the shore at their heads. After making sure that the victims were dead, the perpetrators left the scene.

During the de-occupation of the village, the former law enforcement officer and one of his accomplices fled to European countries via russia. The other two remained and were detained by the SBI in March 2023.

Thus, the State Emergency Service officer and the civilian are accused of the premeditated murder of two people, committed by a group of persons (Part 2 of Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The former law enforcement officer and another civilian are put on the wanted list.

The sanction of the article provides for punishment in the form of life imprisonment.

Procedural supervision is carried out by the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office.