Closed shelter in Kyiv: Prosecutor's Office explained why only hospital's guard was put in detention

The Prosecutor's Office requested an arrest for the guard Vadym Moshkin and a round-the-clock house arrest for officials in the case of a closed shelter in Kyiv, near which people were killed, because it was the guard who did not open the door to let residents into the bomb shelter.

Source: Nadiia Maksymets, spokesperson for the Kyiv Prosecutor's Office, on air of the national joint 24/7 newscast and in a commentary to Ukrainska Pravda

Quote: "The Prosecutor's Office asked for the strictest preventive measures to be applied to all four suspects in accordance with the sanctions of the incriminated articles. 

The investigation found that it was the guard who did not open the door to shelter during the air-raid siren, leaving people on the street under [missile - ed.] fire. His actions are qualified under Art. 135.3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine as leaving people in danger and causing death. The sanction of the article entails five to eight years in prison, which is why the prosecutor requested to apply the strictest preventive measure in the form of detention."

Details: Maksymets added that, according to local residents, not only on a tragic night but before they were repeatedly denied access to the shelter during an air-raid warning at night.

Therefore, if there is an appeal from the defence against this decision, the Prosecutor's Office will insist on leaving the chosen preventive measure unchanged.

As for officials, their actions, according to Maksymets, are qualified as "negligence that entailed grave consequences".

Quote from Maksymets: "These persons, to the extent of their authority, should have organised the work of the shelter and ensured that people had free access to the shelter during an air-raid siren but did not do so. Given that the sanction of the article provides for up to five years in prison, the most severe preventive measure that we could ask the court for is a round-the-clock house arrest. To all three employees of the court, these petitions were granted in full. "

Details: Maksymets added that the fact that the guard pleads guilty is "his way of protecting himself" because residents have repeatedly stressed that they were not allowed into the shelter.

"And if the security guard follows the instructions of the leadership but does not report it to the investigation, then this means that he is covering up for his superiors. In any case, the investigation continues. Within its limits, an assessment will be made of the actions of all officials of the Kyiv City State Administration and District State Administration who are related to this situation," said the spokeswoman for the Prosecutor's Office.

She also added that Moshkin came to the attention of law enforcement agencies long before the tragic events.

Back in February, the Security Service of Ukraine received materials from the Prosecutor's office on the activities in the Desnianskyi district of a group of people calling themselves the All-Union Association of Voters of the Peoples of the USSR or the Kyiv City Committee of Creditors of the USSR, who, even after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, supported the idea of Ukraine joining the Russian Federation.

On 2 February, the Prosecutor's Office registered criminal proceedings on the fact of committing a crime under Art. 436-1.2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (production, distribution of communist and Nazi symbols as well as propaganda of communist and National Socialist (Nazi) totalitarian regimes).

According to Maksymets, these people printed leaflets with communist symbols and sent letters to the addresses of state bodies and communal enterprises in which they wrote about the illegality of the declaration of Ukraine’s independence.

In addition, having debts for utility services, they refused to pay them, arguing that these services were "imposed" on them, when they themselves did not order these services.

According to Maksymets, the coordinator of these organisations is the wife of the suspected guard. And the deputy director of the clinic and residents of houses adjacent to the hospital allegedly characterised the guard as a "separatist".

During searches at the place of residence of the defendants in the case, a significant amount of documents with the symbols of the communist regime and seals with these symbols were found and seized.

On 5 June, the Prosecutor's Office signed a notice of suspicion to the guard and his wife of committing a crime under Art. 28.2 and Art. 436-1.1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (production and distribution of communist symbols by prior conspiracy by a group of persons).

In a commentary to Ukrainska Pravda, Maksymets said that at these moment, the process of presenting suspicions to the defendants continues.

Background:

• On the night of 1 June 2023, three people, including a child born in 2013, were killed in the capital of Ukraine during a missile attack by the Russian invaders.
• Residents tried to get to a shelter at a clinic in the Desnianskyi district, but the door was locked.
• Criminal proceedings were initiated in this case.
• On 3 June, the Holosiivskyi Court of Kyiv implemented the preventive measure for the suspect involved in the case of a closed shelter near the hospital, where three individuals tragically lost their lives on the night of 1 June in the Desnianskyi district of the capital. The court ordered house arrest for the officials involved, while the security guard of the hospital was taken into custody for two months without bail.
• On 3 June, Mayor of Kyiv Vitalii Klitschko stated that just one day after the introduction of the feedback service for assessing the condition of shelters, Kyiv residents filed more than a thousand complaints.
• On 5 June, Minister of Strategic Industry Oleksandr Kamyshin said that the situation with bomb shelters in the capital is critical because half of the checked shelters are not ready for the inflow of people.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!