Double murder in the Kharkiv region. The suspects have been arrested; they are soldiers who defected to the opposition
This was reported by the Kharkiv Regional Police.
It has been preliminarily established that on 29 January, in the village of Husyna Polyana, two men who had left their military unit without permission and taken weapons with them were in a house together with the 41-year-old owner and a 26-year-old local resident. Whilst drinking alcohol together, those present got into an argument.
Subsequently, the armed men decided to kill the other two men. According to the investigation, the 38-year-old suspect fired several shots from a Kalashnikov assault rifle at the 26-year-old victim, who died at the scene. He then went into another room and shot the 41-year-old homeowner in the head. The man also died as a result of his injuries.
The police reported that, in order to conceal the crime, they wrapped the bodies of the deceased in plastic sheeting and blankets, then moved them to an uninhabited building on the property and fled.
On 8 March, police tracked down and arrested the men in the town of Korosten in the Zhytomyr region, where they had been hiding. During searches, an automatic rifle, an assault rifle and ammunition were seized. The bodies of the victims were subsequently recovered.
On 26 March, the two men were charged with intentional murder — Part 2 of Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. They face up to 15 years’ imprisonment or life imprisonment.
