A former soldier who demanded 500,000 hryvnias from the family of a fallen soldier will stand trial
Prosecutors from the Office of the Prosecutor General have filed an indictment with the court against a former military servicemember accused of extortion and receiving an unlawful benefit. The man demanded money from the family of a deceased soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, claiming he could influence military officials to expedite the payment of a one-time financial benefit.
According to the investigation, the suspect introduced himself as a friend and former commander of the deceased soldier and convinced one of his sons that without his help, the family would not receive the funds due to alleged discrepancies in the documents. In exchange for “assistance” in processing the payments to the three sons, he demanded 10% of the total aid amount, which amounted to 1.2 million hryvnias.
After receiving the first installment of the payments, the family agreed to hand over 500,000 hryvnias. The handover took place in February 2026 under the supervision of law enforcement officers in the Zhmerynka district of Vinnytsia Oblast. To conceal the crime, the defendant enlisted the help of third parties and instructed them to leave a box containing the money at a local store. During his arrest, the man attempted to hide the funds in an abandoned building.
Source: Office of the Prosecutor General.
As a reminder, a man was detained in Odesa after firing shots at employees of the TCC.
Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Karchuk was detained at the border in Poland.
A veteran of the Kraken special forces unit was detained in Kyiv.
