Interior Minister Arsen Avakov’s police force stands accused of sabotaging high-profile investigations and being ineffective in solving any major criminal cases. Avakov and the police denied such accusations. Below is a list of cases that have prompted public criticism.
People pay tribute to Belarus-born journalist Pavel Sheremet, who was killed in a car bombing in Kyiv on July 20, 2016. A farewell ceremony took place in Ukrainian House on July 22. (Volodymyr Petrov)
Sheremet case
Belarusian journalist Pavel Sheremet was killed in a car explosion in Kyiv on July 20, 2016. Police reported no progress for years. In December 2019, Avakov announced the detention of suspects. The police completed the investigation in May and are preparing to send the case to trial. However, no strong evidence has been presented publicly by the police and prosecutors.
Attacks on activists
There have been at least 12 killings of activists and journalists in Ukraine since the EuroMaidan Revolution, which ousted President Viktor Yanukovych on Feb. 22, 2014. There have also been about 100 violent attacks on activists and journalists since the revolution, including at least six attempted murders. Most of the cases have been investigated by Avakov’s police. None of those who ordered the murders were found. Only in half of the murder cases, suspected hitmen were identified. None have been convicted yet. In 90 percent of the investigations into non-lethal attacks on activists, no suspects were found at all, according to Tetiana Pechonchyk, head of the Human Rights Information Center.
A woman cries on Independence Square on Feb. 20, 2014, beside the bodies of two protesters shot dead by police snipers. Following the massacre, late on Feb. 21. 2014, President Viktor Yanukovych fled. At least 100 demonstrators were killed. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)
Gandziuk case
Kateryna Gandziuk, a whistleblowing municipal official, died in a hospital in November 2018 after numerous operations following an acid attack on her in Kherson in July 2018.
The police initially arrested an apparent scapegoat, Mykola Novikov, as a suspect in the murder. Novikov was later released after Gandziuk’s friends carried out their own investigation and confirmed his alibi. The police’s failure led to the case being transferred to the Security Service of Ukraine. Five alleged perpetrators of the crime were convicted in June 2019. Suspected organizers are under investigation.
Nozdrovska case
Iryna Nozdrovska, a 38-year-old attorney who fought for the imprisonment of a drunk driver who killed her sister, was found dead in a river by the village of Demydove in Kyiv Oblast on Jan. 1, 2018.
Yuriy Rossoshansky is a suspect in the case. However, the investigation triggered skepticism, with skeptics saying that it was unlikely that he acted alone. Moreover, Rossoshansky later claimed he did not murder Nozdrovska and was forced to admit his guilt by the police.
Due to the inconsistencies of the case, Nozdrovska’s family and lawyers have demanded a new investigation of the murder. Meanwhile, in October 2018, a court sentenced Yuriy’s son, Dmytro Rossoshansky, to seven years’ imprisonment without the right to amnesty for the murder of Nozdrovska’s sister Svitlana Sapatinska.
In February 2020 he was amnestied and released despite the earlier court ban on his amnesty.
EuroMaidan cases
Lawyers for EuroMaidan protesters and Sergii Gorbatuk, the former top investigator for EuroMaidan cases, have also accused Avakov of blocking investigations into the murder of dozens of protesters during the revolution and other crimes committed against demonstrators. Gorbatuk said that some EuroMaidan cases were initially investigated and blocked by the police before they were transferred to the Prosecutor General’s Office in 2014. Gorbatuk also said that Avakov’s police have refused to suspend offices accused of involvement in EuroMaidan crimes and to cooperate with EuroMaidan investigators.
