Mass murder in Zhytomyr region: accused Zakharenko died before verdict
Anatolii Zakharenko, 62, who was accused of killing six soldiers and one volunteer in the forest of Zhytomyr region, died before the verdict in his case.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to Suspilne.
Zakharenko died on December 17, 2024. The court had been considering his case for the past four years.
The information about Anatoliy Zakharenko's death was confirmed by the defendant's former lawyer Kateryna Voroniuk on the morning of December 20.
Lawyer Maksym Linevych said that he currently has no documentary evidence of his client's death, but learned about it from an oral report from Zakharenko's wife.
Zakharenko's son Oleksii confirmed his father's death.
"He became ill, we took him to the hospital. He was in intensive care for two days, but unfortunately, he died in the morning of December 17," he said.
According to the prosecutor in the case, Valerii Sahadin, the next hearing in the case is scheduled for January 13, 2025.
"This meeting must take place. I don't know whether Zakharenko's wife will be there, but his defense lawyer must come and, accordingly, provide documents certifying the death of his client. Also, the lawyer has to state their position in this case: whether they insist on rehabilitation or not. After that, we will decide whether we will continue to hear the case or close the proceedings," he said.
Mass murder in the Zhytomyr region
As a reminder, on the night of Friday, May 22, 2020, a man shot seven people in the forest of Zhytomyr region. The man had previously been prosecuted for violating the rules for the storage of hunting weapons.
According to the police, the conflict could have occurred due to alcohol consumption. This version was confirmed to his wife by the suspect himself. He said that his friends allegedly began to reproach him for the fact that they had fought and he had not allowed his children to join the army.
Among those killed in the shooting near a pond in Zhytomyr region were soldiers of the General Kulchytskyi battalion Vladyslav Mamychenko and Andrii Moskalets.
Later, during the selection of a preventive measure, Zakharenko told reporters that his actions were self-defense.
