The murders of Ukrainian servicemen through contacts on Telegram have become a systemic threat, the acting chairman of the National Police of Ukraine Maxim Tsutskiridze told UNIAN. According to him, Russian curators use money, drugs, promises of help and already existing problems to attract perpetrators.
This year, Ukrainian investigators have worked on 20 criminal cases for the deaths of 22 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in eight regions and Kiev. In the cases of the deaths of 12 servicemen, 11 people were reported as suspects, and four more were identified as suspects who are to be raised with suspicion. Four cases have been filed in court, and one has been transferred to the jurisdiction of the Security Service of Ukraine.
Tsutskiridze emphasized that the investigation still does not allow us to claim that all 22 servicemen were killed. In some cases, the causes of death continue to be clarified through expert examinations, checking recent contacts and analyzing correspondence.
Young people were lured with money and drugs
In the identified episodes, servicemen were targeted through acquaintances, offers to spend time together, gifts or free packages. In most of the cases that the police have data on, methadone was used, sent by mail or left in hiding places.
Among the suspects are many young people. "There is a 19-year-old who agreed to kill a serviceman for 5,000 hryvnias," Tsutskiridze said. According to him, two schoolgirls in the 10th and 11th grades were promised $5,000 for killing a serviceman.
In another case, a 17-year-old girl was promised help in leaving Ukraine to avoid responsibility for previous car arson. According to the police, the curators select the offer according to the vulnerability of the particular person – need for money, drug addiction or a desire to avoid punishment.
Curators act remotely
In one of the proceedings, a Russian citizen born in 2004 and living in Rostov-on-Don was identified. According to the Ukrainian police, he remotely directed the actions of a minor in Ukraine.
In some cases, the curator finds the serviceman, conducts correspondence on behalf of another, arranges the meeting, organizes the transfer of the substance and monitors the execution. In Zhytomyr region, a minor provided her photos, after which the alleged organizer communicated with the serviceman on her behalf.
Investigators are checking duplicate channels and nicknames on Telegram, but police specify that the same nickname alone does not prove that the same person is behind different cases.
Police investigate deaths following shipments
On October 9 and 10, servicemen in Zhytomyr region and Ivano-Frankivsk received shipments of pills of unknown origin. In one case, two servicemen used the substance, one of whom died that day and the other was found dead the next morning. The investigation is being conducted as a premeditated murder of two people.
On October 23, a 17-year-old girl was reported as a suspect, and a day later the court ordered her to be detained. The police are also checking other recipients of similar packages.
Among the risk signals are excessive interest in the serviceman's place of service, regime and location, insistence on a photo in uniform, invitations to meet in private, unsolicited gifts and packages, as well as requests to receive or deliver someone else's package. “It is better to check a contact that turns out to be safe than to miss one that is behind a Russian curator“, Tsutskiridze said.
Sources: unian.ua