Court chooses preventive measure for suspects in Berezovskaya murder - Reut and Zhykovych. LIVE
The Pechersk District Court is determining the pre-trial measures to be imposed on the suspects in the murder of Anastasia Berezovska, who may have been involved in the attempted assassination of the sanctioned businessman Yermolaev in Monaco.
This was reported by Censor.NET.
Details
The suspects in question are Vladyslav Reut and Vitalii Zhykovych.
According to the prosecutor, Reut, acting as a witness, re-enacted the events of 3 July at the crime scene.
He also identified a spot in a wooded area in the Bucha district where Berezovska’s murder took place.
The murder weapon and the victim’s belongings were disposed of by Zhykovych in a body of water within the Bucha district.
The prosecutor noted that the victim was a native of the Zhytomyr region, not the Luhansk region, as German law enforcement agencies had previously reported.
Berezovska’s mother confirmed during the identification of the victim’s body that it was her daughter, Anastasia Berezovska.
The victim’s mother reported that her daughter had arrived in Ukraine from Germany on July 1, 2026. On July 3, at her daughter’s request, she drove her to one of the gas stations on the outskirts of Zhytomyr. That was the last time she saw her.
Reut partially changed his testimony, stating that it was not he but Zhykovych who shot Berezovska.
Pretrial Detention
The prosecution requests that Vladyslav Reut be placed in pretrial detention for 60 days without setting bail.
The Defense’s Position
The defense attorney requests that an alternative to pretrial detention be considered.
What Does Reut Say?
He stated that he acted on Zhykovych’s instructions. Reut said that, following Zhykovych’s instructions, Berezovskaya headed toward the Kyiv region.
Zhykovych also stated that Berezovska could face physical harm from third parties, so she should be hidden.
According to Reut, Zhykovych told Berezovska during their meeting that new documents would be prepared for her and that she would stay in a safe place for some time.
The suspect said that Zhykovych always carried a weapon.
"He pointed to the weapon and told her to follow him. He insisted. Zhykovych distracted Berezovska, saying that powerful people were backing him. At the same time, he made a gesture signaling to "work" on her. I didn’t even point a gun at her. After that, he went crazy, took the pistol from me, and shot her in the back of the head.
He fired the second shot at her torso," he said.
Then he fired two more times, Reut says. After that, Zhykovych ordered him to dig a hole.
Reut is ready to take a polygraph test and provide all the evidence.
"Yes, I’ve killed people, but that was during the war. I was eliminating the enemy. I took an oath to defend Ukraine and its people. I would never have done something like this. I had no motive for it. But Zhykovych had a motive, because Berezovska was a witness and could have implicated him in another incident," he concluded.
Earlier, the media had published new details about the suspects from the Main Intelligence Directorate and, presumably, the Security Service of Ukraine.
What led up to this?
- On the evening of 29 June in Monaco, a powerful explosion occurred near a residential building on the border with France, injuring three members of a Ukrainian family. According to media reports, the victims were the sanctioned Ukrainian businessman Yermolaev and his relatives.
- The media reported that, as a result of her injuries, the woman had both legs amputated.
- CCTV footage shows the suspect in the terrorist attack throwing a rucksack in front of the building’s entrance. He is currently wanted by the authorities. It is now believed that he managed to flee to France.
- Monaco’s Prime Minister, Christophe Mirmand, stated that this was a premeditated attack and a terrorist act. The explosive device, he said, may have contained bolts and metal parts.
- The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that three members of a family of Ukrainian origin were injured in the explosion in Monaco, two of whom are in a critical condition. Ukrainian diplomats from the embassy in France are at the scene.
- Monaco’s Attorney General, Stéphane Thibault, stated that the explosion, which injured members of a family of Ukrainian origin, has been classified as an attempted murder.
- The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine has opened criminal proceedings into the completed contract killing of three members of the Ukrainian family of businessman Vadym Yermolaev in Monaco.
- It later emerged that the body of Ukrainian citizen Anastasia Berezovska, a suspect in the attempted murder of Yermolayev, had been found near Kyiv.
- Law enforcement officers have detained a member of the Main Intelligence Directorate and a former military officer on suspicion of the woman’s murder. They have been informed of the charges against them.
