The court rejected a motion by Kolomoyskyi's defense team in the attempted murder case
On June 24, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv denied a motion by Igor Kolomoyskyi’s defense team to change the order in which evidence would be examined in the 2003 attempted murder case. The victim in the case, Karpenko, testified for the first time during the trial.
The Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv rejected a motion by Igor Kolomoyskyi’s defense team to change the order in which evidence is examined in the attempted murder case. The victim, Serhiy Karpenko, testified for the first time in the case.
Kolomoyskyi’s attorneys also argued that the statute of limitations for the 2003 events had already expired. The prosecution opposed this, the victim supported the prosecution’s position, and the court denied the motion to dismiss the criminal proceedings due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.
The victim, Karpenko, testified in court for the first time as part of the proceedings. Before testifying, he addressed the court with an opening statement.
“People ask me why I’m bringing this up again after so many years. The answer is simple: it’s not because I want revenge. I’m a lawyer by training—I used to be a defense attorney—and that’s why I believe in due process, not in retribution. I also understand that every crime that goes unpunished becomes a license for the next crime. Unpunished evil returns,” he said.
In his testimony, Karpenko described in detail the events leading up to the attempt on his life. According to him, he first encountered Kolomoyskyi in 1994 during negotiations. Over the following years, Karpenko, as a lawyer, occasionally collaborated with business entities linked to Ihor Kolomoyskyi’s business interests, in particular with the oligarch’s partner, Mykhailo Kipperman. It was then, Karpenko emphasizes, that he first faced overt pressure: specifically, Mykhailo Kipperman personally threatened to “ruin” him.
In early 2003, Karpenko worked as a legal advisor to Kostyantyn Hryhoryshyn, a shareholder of “Dniprospetsstal,” a company whose shareholders’ meeting was being illegally blocked. On July 3, 2003, Karpenko, together with his partners, provided legal support for the meeting despite attempts by Kolomoyskyi and his partners to derail the proceedings.
The next day, Karpenko said, he was summoned to the oligarch’s office, where, in the presence of Kipperman, the oligarch claimed losses amounting to $2 million and demanded that the meeting be declared illegal.
“They’ll roll you under the asphalt and cut banknotes out of your skin”—according to Karpenko’s testimony, such threats were made during that meeting. Karpenko and his partners refused to comply with the demands, and on July 8, 2003, one of their office employees ended up in intensive care after an attack involving pipes and hammers. Soon after, Karpenko himself was attacked; he sustained numerous stab wounds and was beaten with metal objects.
Karpenko’s attorney is convinced that despite numerous motions by Ihor Kolomoyskyi’s defense team to dismiss the case due to the statute of limitations, the proceedings are only gaining momentum. According to him, this case has already become a symbol of the fact that even after more than two decades, society and the justice system are not willing to tolerate impunity and are determined to bring the investigation into the attempted murder to a logical conclusion.
The high-profile trial regarding the attempted murder of attorney Serhiy Karpenko will resume on July 15, 2026. The court has scheduled the second part of the victim’s testimony for that date, according to Ukrainian News.
Prior to this, Kolomoyskyi alleged that the expert analysis had been falsified in a Kyiv court.
