Law enforcement agencies have detained a 50-year-old lawyer from Zhytomyr, suspected of the premeditated murder of a 31-year-old local resident. The man had been hiding from the investigation for more than two years and was on the state wanted list. The detention took place on January 21, 2026 in the Odessa region. The Prosecutor General’s Office reported this on January 26.
Criminal proceedings were initiated in 2022. According to the prosecutor’s office, on July 17, 2022, the body of a 31-year-old resident of Zhytomyr, who had been missing since April of that year, was found in the Bohunsky quarry reservoir. The forensic medical examination established that the man’s death was violent.
During the pre-trial investigation, law enforcement officers found out that on April 26, 2022, the victim received a fatal gunshot wound in one of the private households in Zhytomyr.
“Based on the evidence collected, a 46-year-old resident of Zhytomyr was reported to be suspected of committing premeditated murder. At that time, he was practicing law and had not previously been held criminally liable, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported.
Since the suspect’s whereabouts could not be established, he was put on the wanted list in July 2023. More than two years later, the man was detained in the Odessa region.
In the comments, the press officer of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Zhytomyr region, Ivanna Siletska, told the details of the events of 2022. According to her, in April, during a feast between a lawyer and a 31-year-old guest, a conflict arose over a woman, which escalated into a fight. The suspect fired a shotgun and fatally wounded his opponent. In order to hide the crime, he took the body to the Bohunsky quarry and flooded it.
The man’s mother contacted the police about his disappearance. During the investigation, law enforcement officers identified the alleged attacker and informed him of the suspicion, noted Ivanna Siletska. She also reported that in June 2023, while serving in the military, the suspect left a military unit in the Odessa region without permission, carrying an assault rifle, pistol, and ammunition.
“He was detained in the Odessa region. During the detention, the man took out a combat pistol and pointed it at the KORD special forces, but it was promptly neutralized without casualties”, said the police press officer.
On January 23, at the request of the prosecutor, the court chose a preventive measure in the form of detention for the suspect. Investigative actions are ongoing. The man is charged with premeditated murder under Part 1 of Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for a sentence of imprisonment for a term of 7 to 15 years.
