The suspect in Parubiy's murder has started talking. But his version does not convince everyone
Yesterday, the Galician District Court of Lviv chose a preventive measure for Mykhailo Stelniko, suspected of murdering Andriy Parubiy. Before the start of the hearing, Stelniko managed to communicate with journalists and made several statements: the defendant called his actions "revenge against the Ukrainian authorities," and also dismissed reports that Russian special services were blackmailing him.
"This is revenge personally against the Ukrainian authorities. All I want is for the verdict to be made as soon as possible. Yes, I admit, I killed him, and I want to ask to be exchanged for prisoners of war so I can go and find my son's body. That's all, no more comments. Parubiy was nearby. If Petya had been here, it would have been Petya, if I lived in Vinnytsia (probably referring to Poroshenko — ed.). That's all, I don't want to talk anymore," - the suspect is quoted by Suspilne.
The suspect in the murder of Andriy Parubiy was detained and was granted a 60-day detention without the right to bail.
After the hearing, the head of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office, Mykola Meret, reported that on September 1, the suspect was interrogated: "He admitted his guilt, provided more detailed information regarding how he committed the criminal offense. We saw his position at the court session today. He understands what we have, he has familiarized himself with the materials we provided, which were also submitted to the court. Therefore, his position is clear because, in my opinion, the evidence is sufficient to say that he could have committed this crime."
According to the prosecutor, after committing the crime, the suspect did not intend to surrender to the investigation. He went into the forest, where he burned his clothes and disassembled the bicycle he used to travel from Lviv. He tried to drown it in a water body, but was unsuccessful.
The Office of the Prosecutor General informed that "the previously reported suspicion has been changed in connection with the murder of People's Deputy of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy."
«Considering the collected evidence, the legal qualification of the criminal offense has been changed to Part 1 of Article 263 (illegal handling of weapons) and Article 112 (attempt on the life of a People's Deputy of Ukraine committed in connection with his state or public activity) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. In view of this, the Prosecutor's Office of the Lviv Region has entrusted the pre-trial investigation to the Investigative Department of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Lviv region, according to jurisdiction. The sanction of the article provides for imprisonment for a term of 10 to 15 years or life imprisonment,» - the law enforcement agencies reported.
It has been established that the son of the detainee indeed fought in the 93rd Brigade and went missing without a trace in Bakhmut. This was confirmed to journalists by the brigade's press officer, Irina Rybakova. Mykhailo Stelniko, with the call sign "Lemberg," served in reconnaissance and died in May 2023 near Bakhmut.
At the same time, officially, Stelniko is considered missing in action, as the soldier's body has not been found. The head of the brigade's patronage service, Alina Karnaukhova, reported that according to documents, he went missing on May 20, 2023. The soldier's mother, writer Olena Cerninka, wrote a book about her son — "Lemberg: Mom, Don't Cry."
However, the version of the detainee (about the desire at all costs to "find his son's body") seems quite strained considering the information that appeared after the court session.
The former wife of the accused, Olena Cerninka, spoke more about the relationship between the father and son on Facebook: "I want to clarify the situation. A wave of information is spreading online. Truthful and nonsensical. I parted ways with my ex-husband in 1998. Officially, with documents, in 2000. I raised my son alone. Sometimes the father appeared. Like on September 1st, for the first grade, or for some significant event. He communicated with his son, but very rarely. When Lemberg went to war, they had a serious quarrel. And Lemberg blocked his ancestor everywhere because one was a patriot, and the other was not. After my son's death, I had to communicate with his father. Documents, investigators, DNA, etc. There was no friendship or hostility. Our rare communication was only regarding the son's disappearance. I raised Mykhailo-Viktor to be a truly brave man. You can read about this in my book, which contains no mention of the father. The news from the court in the case of the murder of Andriy Parubiy shocked our family. It is important that the memory of Mykhailo in this situation is not distorted!."
Also, People's Deputy Mykola Knyazhytsky, commenting on the suspect's statement, wrote: "I know the mother of 'Lemberg,' Mykhailo, who went missing without a trace. She is a well-known writer and photographer. I saw Mykhailo himself. They, along with a group of Lviv residents, arrived then in 206 battalion as volunteers… There was also Andriy Parubiy. His photo in uniform with a weapon at checkpoints from those times. He (Lemberg) was with Andriy Parubiy at the beginning of the war in the same unit."
The People's Deputy also mentioned Khrystyna Parubiy, Andriy's niece, who repeatedly represented the book about Lemberg and events in his honor on "Espreso".
"And no one knew or saw Lemberg's father. He left the family 27 years ago. He had a second child in a second marriage, whom he also left, and had proceedings for unpaid alimony. So, the story of a loving father is a fiction and a legend. But as an object for recruitment and a scenario, it is perfect," added Knyazhytsky.
The suspect in the murder of Parubiy, Mykhailo Stelniko, was born on February 14, 1973, and writes OBOZ.UA. In recent years, he was engaged in repairing household appliances and lived in Lviv on Kotlyarevsky Street. In 2003, the man opened his own FOP, which operated for almost two decades. He closed the business in 2022. The automated enforcement proceedings system of the Ministry of Justice has several open and closed proceedings regarding the probable murderer of Parubiy. In particular, he did not pay taxes.
His son, Mykhailo-Viktor Stelniko (born 1994), was a programmer and taught at the KROK Computer Academy in Lviv. Later, he worked at TurnKey Lender.
