In order to preserve evidence of the authorities’ unscrupulous behavior, we are publishing the full text of the briefing and all images from the presentation on December 12, 2019, organized by Minister Avakov with the participation of the President and the Prosecutor General, where the arrest of the “perpetrators of the crime” in the murder of Pavlo Sheremet was announced.
In particular, the transcript shows that Minister Avakov says that the NPU State Police Department detained the suspects, although the protocol will indicate the time of Andriy Antonenko’s detention as 23:05, and the investigating judge will begin to consider the issue of detention only at 17:49:55 and will pronounce the decision on detention at 18:40. The minister will never call the defendants anything other than “suspects,” although the next day in Savik Shuster’s studio he will already mention the figure on the video from the crime scene and call him “Antonenko,” and will also accuse him of possessing explosives, which were not there.
During his speech, General Koval will call citizen “Natsyk” the organizer of the crime of blowing up power poles, and all three suspects (Mr. Antonenko, Ms. Dugar, and Ms. Kuzmenko) known to us from past crimes.
Prosecutor General Ryaboshapka stated in his speech (verbatim): It seems to me that there are very few people in the country (18:06) They believed that such evil would soon be exposed. And it’s very good that those colleagues, like the only ones who told you about the smell of power, believed it. And it went away. (18:07) I would like to say that, in fact, only those of our kind have the first hand in revealing the evil. The fragments were installed in this way, who planned and carried out the killing and in reality the country still bears almost a resemblance to those who were the initiator and organizer What a greedy evil. I suspect that the region is giving evidence on this power supply as well .
Finally, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky spoke. Vin, sokrema, rinsing:
I want to urge everyone today, Mr. Minister,… especially to urge you, guys, to all investigators, to all prosecutors, Mr. Prosecutor General, to urge you to do your very hard work. Emovirnye killers today have been blurred. So much, I sing, you have learned so much, and so many testimonies, thank God, we gave up on you today. Ale is another food – who is the deputy. I’m sure that there will be a clue about the coming time on the food chain.
A fragment of what was published on the official website of the head of the state.
Well, the minister-organizer of the show exceeds the limits of what is permissible through the very substitution of the submitted material, not allowing, at least, careless statements, the short-lived young general called us all evildoers, the Prosecutor General announced that the evildoers were exposed, and especially planned and carried out the killing with authority – the President called the suspected killers the most probable killers, however, claiming for their confusion and “removal of the species”, for the new one hundred hundred percent of their responsibility there was no longer food, daily I doubt that I lost track of the deputy.
Read the full text in transcripts at the end of this text or download this document (PDF).
- The famous journalist Pavlo Sheremet died from multiple wounds through a neckline after a self-inflicted vibration under the driver’s seat of his car at 7:44 am on June 20, 2016.
- Earlier that day, between 2:15 and 3:00, security cameras on the streets near where the victim’s car was parked were filmed by two people, apparently a man and a woman, as they were shuffling their hands. For the first time, the stench collapsed along one route, trying to keep going. At about 2:38 a.m., a female figure approached the car, hovered and manipulated the driver’s seat for approximately 30-40 seconds. Then the two left the place of evil, and a few weeks after the heavy laying of the vibukhivka, they became closer and collapsed, no longer wanting to know each other. The appearance of these individuals was not clearly recorded. Below the stench they are called “offenders”.
- At a briefing held by representatives of the police and the Prosecutor General’s Office on 08/04/2016, it was publicly stated that the person on record had a Spanish beard and a height of 168-175 cm, female about 5 cm below the surface.
- Later, 08/25/2016 and 09/01/2016, independent one type of forensic experts submitted letters of information about the age of offenders. The height of the human figure behind these positions is 170 cm and 172 cm in parallel. Two experts confirmed that the loss of extinction is no more than 3%, which affects the quality of posture, the parameters of weight and headwear, and the constant decline of the individual.
- A forensic examination on 12/09/2016 established that the vibukhov device was produced in a self-generating way from the vikor elements of the vibukh device for industrial preparation and mav in its design cylindrical hostile elements (shrapnel) and bushing (cuff) of the ignition socket of the anti-anti-anti-directional mini MON-50, standard supply for feeding the EDP-r electric detonator. The type of vibukhov speech is pre-stem installations not literal. Diphenylamine, a stabilizer of nitrocellulose powders, was found on many objects in the vicinity. On the grills, only one item – a fragment of an electric detonator – was found to have RDX. It was through the presence of hexogen particles, which form the EDP-r, that it was established that this object is effective with the electric detonator grids. No more RDX or other hydroxy resins or RDX vibukh products were found.
- The investigation has been the subject of special attention from the public and the authorities throughout. The police have repeatedly held briefings in which they reported on the progress of the investigation.
To create the text, we used recordings from YouTube channels of the TV channel “Pryamiy”, Radio Liberty, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine (in fact, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine cut out the speech of Prosecutor General Ryaboshapka from the video recording for unknown reasons). In particular, thanks to the recording of the TV channel “Pryamiy”, we managed to tie the transcript to the absolute values of Kyiv time (UTC+2).
Transcript of the Ministry of Internal Affairs briefing 12.12.2019
Opening remarks by the organizer (17:05)
Opening remarks by Minister Avakov (17:06-17:10)
Presentation by General Koval (17:10-18:03)
about the murder event of July 20, 2016 (17:10-17:11)
about the enormous amount of effort expended (17:11-17:12)
about the facts established in 2016 and the video of the attackers (17:12-17:15)
about possible versions of the motive and their rejections (17:15-17:16)
on the investigation of 35 explosions in Ukraine (17:16-17:16)
about the undermining of power poles and the involvement of Mr. Antonenko (17:16-17:18)
about Mr. Antonenko’s connection with Ms. Kuzmenko and “Electric” (17:18-17:19)
about the attempted crime in which the Hryshchenkos are suspected (17:19-17:21)
about the connection between the Hryshchenkos and other defendants (17:21-17:24)
listening to Yana Dugar’s private conversations about the sapper bag (17:34-17:38)
tapping of private conversations of Yulia Kuzmenko – “afraid of searches” (17:38-17:40)
listening to “Electric” – suicidal thoughts (17:40-17:41)
Vlad Hryshchenko’s alibi (17:41-17:44)
identification of suspects Mr. Antonenko and Ms. Kuzmenko by gait (17:44-17:46)
phones not working at night (17:46-17:48)
prints on clothes and Mr. Antonenko’s limp (17:48-17:48)
Bermuda Triangle (17:48-17:50)
involvement of the Hryshchenkos (17:50-17:52)
identification of Ms. Dugar (17:52-17:53)
discrediting the Hryshchenko couple (17:53-17:56)
discrediting Yulia Kuzmenko (17:56-18:02)
Speech by the Head of the National Police, Ihor Klymenko (18:03 – 18:05)
President of Ukraine: The killers have been detained, who ordered it (18:08 – 18:09)
Answers to D. Khlyuk’s question about the motive. There was no destabilization (18:10 – 18:12)
Answers to I. Burdiga’s questions about Russia’s participation (18:12 – 18:13)
Transcript of the Ministry of Internal Affairs briefing 12.12.2019
Opening remarks by the organizer (17:05)
Artem Shevchenko (17:05): Good evening, dear friends. We are starting our work. Thank you for promptly coming to us at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The first to speak will be the Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov, then, in turn, the heads of the National Police: the Head of the National Police Ihor Klymenko, the First Deputy Head of the National Police, the Head of the Criminal Police Yevhen Koval, and then other heads of law enforcement agencies will speak, and at the end — a short speech by the Head of State. We will have three or four questions at the end of this briefing. We can begin.
Opening remarks by Minister Avakov (17:06 – 17:10)
Arsen Avakov (17:06): Good afternoon, esteemed Mr. President, esteemed Mr. Prosecutor General. Thank you for visiting us. Today, the Main Investigation Department of the National Police detained the suspects in the case of the murder of Pavel Sheremet and, with the sanction of the Prosecutor General’s Office, announced to them suspicions of the murder of a famous journalist. Currently, active investigative actions are underway against the suspects. But we believe that the case is of great public importance, and therefore we are conducting an urgent briefing on the progress of the investigation. Everything you will see and hear is only a part of the large material and package of information that the investigation has. You will learn about the circumstances of the murder, its probable versions, as well as about similar crimes, including those that led to the investigation into possible perpetrators. The disclosure of this volume of materials and facts is subject to the permission of the investigation, as provided for by Article 222 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It is these materials and facts that give the National Police investigation reasonable grounds to suspect several people of involvement in the crime.
Arsen Avakov (17:08): This is a very complex case, in which the investigation studied thousands of operational materials, including video and audio, and more than 50 expert examinations were conducted. To make the logic of the process clear, we have prepared an interactive presentation-report for you, during which the First Deputy Head of the National Police, Police General Koval, Head of the Investigation and Operational Group, Head of the Criminal Unit of the Police, will provide all the information that the investigators allow us to publish. The information that you will receive, unfortunately, is not only sensational, but also shocking. And Ukrainian society has the right and must clearly understand where the line is beyond which patriotism turns into betrayal of one’s country, and indeed – into a crime. Therefore, this is a complex conversation. Complex, but necessary. And two more remarks. First, I articulate that we are talking about declaring suspicion to citizens who, according to the investigation, are persons involved in the case. That is, according to the letter of the law, we do not have the right to form … we do not have the right to talk about strong judgments. We are talking about the fact that these citizens are suspects, whose rights will be defended in court, and we will defend the prosecution. But the persons we will talk about now are, by their own choice, quite public figures, they have made a lot of efforts or at least their pseudonyms have become known to the public. Therefore, we received permission from the investigation, including to use surnames. And the last thing. Excuse me, dear gentlemen, during the presentation there will be obscene language. In this case, this is not a violation of public order, but, unfortunately, evidence in the case. I kindly ask parents to decide whether their children should stay in front of the TV any longer. Therefore, I ask you to begin the presentation-report on the progress of the investigation into the murder of Pavel Sheremet. General Koval reports.
Presentation by General Koval (17:10 – 18:03)
about the murder event of July 20, 2016 (17:10-17:11)
Yevhen Koval (17:10): Thank you for your time. Please note that the briefing was prepared in an emergency manner, so there may be some technical glitches or errors in the text.
Dear… Good afternoon, dear Mr. President, dear Prosecutor General, Mr. Minister, Head of the National Police, journalists. Let’s take a tour of this history.
(17:11)
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As is known, the murder occurred on July 20, 2016. At 7:44 a.m. at the intersection of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi and Ivan Franko streets in Kyiv, by blowing up a car. The explosion killed the famous journalist Pavlo Sheremet, a citizen of the Russian Federation. This moment was recorded by a camera at a McDonald’s fast food restaurant, you can see the video. During the inspection of the scene, experts seized a significant number of objects, which were carefully examined by relevant specialists, including international and US FBI representatives.
about the enormous amount of effort expended (17:11-17:12)
In particular, the national police investigation has led to a colossal amount of work
more than 800 seizures of documents and information, including from mobile operators. More than 3,700 people were questioned, 47 examinations were appointed and conducted, including comprehensive ones, 577 houses and about 4,300 apartments were examined. 80 million telephone connections and 44,000 subscribers were analyzed. (17:12) Video recordings from 221 outdoor surveillance cameras were examined, in particular, the duration of recording on some of them was from five to two months, imagine the analysis of one department sometimes took several days to improve the quality of the study, a whole group of employees separately analyzed only video materials, relevant analytical tables were compiled, which were studied and conclusions were drawn.
about the facts established in 2016 and the video of the attackers (17:12-17:15)
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Based on the above analysis of video materials, a scheme of movement of the alleged criminals was drawn up. The investigation drew attention to the identity of a woman who, 5 days before the crime, on the morning of July 15, and then on the morning of July 18, was recorded by video cameras on Lypynskoho Street, near the crime scene, passing by which she is walking and in one of the videos taking a picture of the location of the cameras on a mobile phone, you can see her face on the screen.
(17:13) This behavior seemed to the investigative and operational group to be… strange, also by viewing the video recordings removed from the surveillance cameras on the night of July 19-20… on July 20, a route to the crime scene was established and two unknown persons, a man and a woman, were recorded, the woman holding a plastic bag, who were moving along Ivan Franko Street towards the location of the victim’s car. On Franko Street, the persons who had previously been walking side by side split up and continued on different sides of the street. The female person, this will now be visible on the screen, is approaching Pavlo Sheremet’s car, this is the route you see now and the video we recorded. Pavlo Sheremet’s car will be visible separately here, we will mark it with a circle.
(17:14) A female person approaches Pavel Sheremet’s car, looks around, takes out a presumably explosive device from a package and places it under the car, after which the two quickly walk away from the crime scene along Lypynskoho Street. There, surveillance cameras also record these individuals, they meet again and leave the crime scene together, we see this with you. Later in the video, we will see how in this square a surveillance camera records a man with a print on his outerwear, we will pay special attention to this and later it will become clear why.
about possible versions of the motive and their rejections (17:15-17:16)
So, the investigation put forward a number of versions,
namely the first version: (17:15) a mistake in the object of the crime, given that the blown up car belonged to and was used by Olena Prytula, the head of the Ukrainska Pravda website, and not by Pavel Sheremet personally, the second version: domestic and interpersonal conflict situations, version number 3: the professional activities of the injured journalist in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia and version 4: this is the destabilization of the socio-political situation in the state by, I emphasize, the murder of a well-known person. After working out three versions out of four did not find their confirmation, the investigation continued to work on the main ones according to the main version and this is the destabilization of the socio-political situation in the state by the murder of a well-known person.
on the investigation of 35 explosions in Ukraine (17:16-17:16)
Yes, in working out this version, the investigation conducted extensive, meticulous work to study all the explosions that occurred on the territory of Ukraine, I emphasize all of them, before and after the murder of Pavel Sheremet.
(17:16) In total, 35 facts of such crimes were established, among the indicated number of crimes, 2 crimes attracted personal attention for the investigative and operational group and, ummm…, which we will now discuss in detail. You can see this indicated in red on the map.
The first is the blowing up of an electric pole in the Kherson region in the fall of 2015. The second is an unsuccessful attempt on businessman Ch. in the summer of 2018 in the Ivano-Frankivsk region in the city of Kosiv. I emphasize that these were completely separate facts that were in no way connected to this, which the investigation considered as separate facts and studied each one separately.
about the undermining of power poles and the involvement of Mr. Antonenko (17:16-17:18)
Now in more detail,
On November 21, 2015, in the Kherson region, near the settlements of Chaplynka and Nove … and Nove, two explosions occurred, which damaged the electric poles of power lines. One of the organizers of these explosions is a citizen named “Natsyk”. In the photographs from the scene of the incident, the investigation was attracted by an unknown person dressed in clothes with a specific image on the back, you can see the photo below, well, we see a damaged electric pole and a person standing next to it with his back, on whose back a specific s… print… print is indicated. For us, this became a litmus test that we paid attention to. Having studied the extensive circle of acquaintances of “Natsyk”, the police became interested in citizen Antonenko.
(17:17) it was established that he lives in the central district of Kyiv. Which is exactly the place near the explosion of Pavel Sheremet’s car. (17:18) In photos on social networks, Antonenko often wears clothes with specific emblems and images that are similar to the image on the clothes of the alleged criminal, Sheremet’s murderer, the video we showed you.
about Mr. Antonenko’s connection with Ms. Kuzmenko and “Electric” (17:18-17:19)
Later, his additional close ties with two individuals who also interested the investigation were established.
This is Yulia Kuzmenko and citizen K. under the pseudonym “Electrician”. I remind you that we provide information only to the extent permitted by the investigator. These individuals had mutual friends and frequent meetings against the background of, in particular, assistance to the military. It is significant that citizen K. possessed certain operational skills and repeatedly used them to avoid obtaining information about him by the police investigation. To avoid, I emphasize. In parallel, the processing of similar crimes continued, for now we will stop at this version and return later, so that you can feel a certain logic of our actions, the investigative and operational group.
about the attempted crime in which the Hryshchenkos are suspected (17:19-17:21)
(17:19) The second crime that interested the investigation
This is a failed attempt on the life of a citizen of Ch., in Kosovo in the summer of 2018. According to the conclusions of the experts… according to the conclusions of the experts, an improvised explosive device was used in it, almost identical to the one that blew up Sheremet’s car, I emphasize almost identical. The entire design of the improvised explosive device, in particular the method of attachment, using neodymium magnets, was absolutely similar. Pay attention to the screen, on the left we see fragments of the remains of a neodymium magnet, which we found at the scene of the explosion of Sheremet’s car, in the center these are photos of the real explosive device that was found in a failed attempt on a businessman in Kosovo, the case is neodymium magnets, which in the original were used to attach explosive explosive device to the car, to the body, the metal body of the car. (17:20) However, when attaching the explosive device, the attacker did not take into account, the attackers did not take into account that the outer side of the bottom of the Range Rover is protected by special polymer protection, so the device did not firmly attach to it and fell from its own weight. This could not but interest the investigation.
The car used to plant the unexploded explosive under the car of citizen Ch was identified, as well as the person who rented the car and drove the planter to the crime scene. This is how citizen V., alias “Pistolet”, came into the field of view of the investigation, he appeared on the screen. The couple of Vladislav Hryshchenko, alias “Bucha” and Inna Hryshchenko, alias “Puma”, were identified as suspects in the commission of this castle. (17:21) It was citizen V., alias “Pistolet” who drove Hryshchenko from Kyiv to Kosiv. Molecular examinations revealed traces of DNA of these individuals on the explosive device. Vladislav Hryshchenko was the first person detained by the police. I would like to point out certain factors that prompted us to take further logical actions.
about the connection between the Hryshchenkos and other defendants (17:21-17:24)
The investigative and operational group recorded that during the search and detention of Hryshchenko, an unknown man arrived in his … own car, who turned out to be citizen K. “Electrician”, whom I mentioned when describing the first group of persons identified during the investigation of damage to power poles in Kherson, that is, it became clear to us, to the investigative and operational group, that between these groups, which were separately investigated, were in different volumes, in essence, the cases that were dealt with by different separate groups (17:22) of the investigative and operational group, such separate groups, we found out what passes …, it turns out that this is not a separate group, but they have something in common, so the emphasis was made even greater and we began to study more carefully all the circumstances and all the life paths and past of this group. Next, I will tell you, at the court hearing to support the spouses, when choosing preventive measures, their friends and relatives came, who had previously been in the field of view of the police, they published joint photos on social networks, but one of them is for a representative website… on this screen is interesting for us. Pay attention to the photo, citizen Kuzmenko is recorded, whom I said about the first group. indicated in the first group and she is the cohabitant of citizen K. – “Electrical” and another person by the surname Dugar, about her later.
(17:23) We were interested in citizen Dugar, “Electrician”, Kuzmenko Yulia and Antonenko Andriy, who were already known to us for past crimes, namely the undermining of an electric pole, that’s where we got them from and started investigating. Active operational work began on this entire group, it was decided to summon citizen V., under the pseudonym “Pistolet”, for questioning by summons, as a witness in the Sheremet case. I want to add to you that when we realized that this group has something in common with one crime that was being investigated and with another crime, the individuals visit each other at court hearings and have common communication, we focused a lot on this and intensified operational work on this entire group.
again about the Hryshchenkos, now in the aspect of the deceased “Pistolet” NSRD recording (17:24-17:34)
When we handed the summons to citizen V., alias “Pistolet,” he immediately notified citizen Inna Hryshchenko about it by phone (17:24), who at that time had not yet been detained by the investigation, here is part of their conversation:
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Yevhen Koval: I would like to note that this conversation shows that the interlocutors do not perceive the topic of Sheremet’s murder as extraneous and foreign to them, moreover, the summons for interrogation of one of the group members is perceived by them as a certain threat, this is confirmed by Inna Hryshchenko’s subsequent telephone conversations. (17:25) She actively shares with friends from her close circle the fact of the summons for interrogation in the Sheremet case of citizen V., Vakulenko alias “Pistolet” and yes, please…
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(17:25)
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Yevhen Koval (17:27): Sorry…it’s a pause now, let it be, audio…
I want to note, you hear it yourself and comments here will be superfluous, what form of conversation, how it bothers the interlocutors. The interlocutors are confused by the fact of the disappearance and connection of the pistol the next day, this is a pseudo pistol the next day after receiving a summons for questioning at the police. Please record it yes…
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Yevhen Koval: I’ll explain now…
Yevhen Koval: please pause the audio…
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Yevhen Koval: Hryshchenko now, she is calling her friends and looking for Ivan, they are confused by his disappearance, she is also calling her husband, who is currently in pre-trial detention, and we are quickly combining this, providing an opportunity to talk, now you will listen to the audio again, please turn it on first.
(17:30) Yevhen Koval: You hear how Hryshchenko emotionally reacts to the fact of the loss of contact with Ivan “Pistolet” and is perceived as an obvious threat to them, at the same time I note and I think that you yourself noticed this yourself, there is no question, and what is Vanya to Sheremet here and I will clarify, there are no questions or surprises, so we as operational workers and investigators found such a reaction strange, so we continue to work. The next day after being summoned for questioning to the police, citizen V. pseudo “Pistolet” commits suicide by shooting himself in the head with a hunting rifle, then there is a general revival of conversations in a certain circle of people, in particular in certain conversations with her husband Vladyslav, Inna Hryshchenko regards the fact of the death of “Pistolet” as a favorable fact for them in the context of the further development of events. (17:31) In the recording she says that his suicide ….
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Yevhen Koval: I will quote the last phrase, “now we will spin as we want”…
In the recording, Hryshchenko says that his suicide is cool for them, you hear it yourself and how it is commented on, that he did not take out the pseudonym “Pistolet”, did not take out Sheremet, so we are moving on and I want to say that it was painful for me to hear this, because the family really experienced the death of citizen V. nicknamed “Pistolet” very hard, but in the words of his closest friends, circle, those whom he helped to commit the crime and was an accomplice in the crime in Ivano-Frankivsk in 18, do not show any grief for him, but rejoice at his death. Let’s move on… The suicide, as well as the conversations between the Hryshchenkos about this, attract the attention of investigators, who continue to work out other people, in particular by conducting searches of the second stage, this is why, I call it stages, because this was really done with the aim of depriving and obtaining information that could be important to us in the case, become evidence. Therefore, this was done systematically and a certain phasing of work was prepared in advance. (17:34) Telephone conversations confirm the general excitement and tension in the group.
listening to Yana Dugar’s private conversations about the sapper bag (17:34-17:38)
The investigation is particularly interested in Yana Dugar, she shares with her interlocutors her delight, I ask for caution, after a search was conducted at her registered address, not her actual residence. I will remind Dugar, this is the girl who appeared in court and the one who fully supported Hryshchenko and, more precisely, Vladyslav in court when choosing measures, preventive measures. She is worried that the investigators could have found something threatening to her at her other address. I suggest you listen to the audio.
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Yevhen Koval: We heard what she was talking about… a young girl was talking. The investigation was alarmed that an ordinary citizen, a 26-year-old girl, had full sapper equipment and a large number of phones in her apartment, even though she is currently a contract worker in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but her position and functionality do not coincide with work in the mine-and-demolition business and you heard how she was worried that we could find seven phones at one of her addresses that she rents. Seven phones and 2 of her special, personal ones… I note that physiologically Yana Dugar seemed to us similar to the girl who conducted reconnaissance near Sheremet’s house and took pictures of video cameras on her mobile phone. By the way, among the entire array of subscribers, we never found that girl with this phone, which indicates that the phone was not activated in the cellular network, that is, it was without a card, it was used as a simple camera, because I told you at first about the millions of traffic that were analyzed and thousands of subscribers who were included in that place and time, who were processed and rejected by the investigation as not matching this girl. That’s why we were curious.
tapping of private conversations of Yulia Kuzmenko – “afraid of searches” (17:38-17:40)
At this time, similar sentiments are being expressed regarding possible searches, Kuzmenko “Lisa” is experiencing, who, by the way, did not appear in any way in the crime against citizen Ch. in Frankivsk, in whose case we are conducting these investigative actions, that is, in our understanding, she had no reason to be concerned, please provide video and audio.
(17:38)
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Yevhen Koval (17:40): This is a conversation between Kuzmenko and his roommate nicknamed “Electrician”, I will note, I will add that Hryshchenko’s first detention was about 20 days before these conversations, and the mood and psychological state of the entire group changed dramatically precisely after, only after we issued just one summons in the Sheremet case. This radically changed their psychological state.
listening to “Electric” – suicidal thoughts (17:40-17:41)
In one of the conversations with the prisoner Vlad, Grishchenko, his comrade “Electrician” expresses suicidal intentions, please, audio…
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Yevhen Koval (17:41): So you feel that it begins in the group Vanya nicknamed “Pistolet” committed suicide, he did it in the family apartment, his parents are no longer alive, he lived with his sister, came to her house, she went to the store, returned and saw his corpse. The rest of the group also shows intentions to commit suicide. We even had to, risking the secrecy of the investigation or the decryption of some specific operative, go with him straight to the forest plantation, where he was going and under the guise of mushroom pickers with balls and knives, run around in circles, trying to prevent him from committing suicide. I think we succeeded there with certain combinations, he remained alive and came to his senses, but we are working further.
Vlad Hryshchenko’s alibi (17:41-17:44)
I would like to draw your attention to another interesting fact from the biography, the biography of Hryshchenko “Bucha”, who once came into the field of view of law enforcement agencies. A week before the murder of Sheremet in the 16th year, according to investigators, Bucha received an order to kill one of the farmers in the Dnipropetrovsk region. He was asked to make explosives, then he proactively reported this to law enforcement agencies, I say “initiatively” in quotes, and handed over the customer. Law enforcement officers were able to stage a crime and detain the organizer of the crime at that time. Now Bucha is using this fact as his alibi. I would like to add a little, by the way, that this case is currently under consideration in court, but even considering that almost four years have passed since we developed the 6-time convicted Hryshchenko, we receive undeniable confirmation that the Hryshchenko family, even up to this time, right up to this time, has been gradually implementing a plan to appropriate by force certain property of the customer, that customer of the murder of 16, and these are companies that work in the field of agriculture, with assets in the form of buildings and agricultural machinery for their own benefit and, attention, for the benefit of the customer of the murder of citizen “Ch” in 18 (17:44) What happened in Frankivsk, that is, the motive for the sincere, in quotes, act is under great question, as is the alibi, which we will talk about later.
identification of suspects Mr. Antonenko and Ms. Kuzmenko by gait (17:44-17:46)
We remind you that a large amount of work was carried out, the most productive of which is the testing of video cameras and the results of examinations.
Thus, through the conducted investigative measures and subsequent documentation of the members of the group… the members of the group manage to clearly separate those individuals who are objectively suspected of committing the murder of Pavel Sheremet.
These are Yana Dugar, Yulia Kuzmenko, Antonenko and the Hryshchenko couple. In addition, the investigation provided the Kyiv Research Institute of Forensic Expertise of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine with video samples taken from video cameras near the explosion of Sheremet’s car, as well as videos showing the suspects, for examination.
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this data domo… helped to establish the identity of the persons in the video, before that we made free samples, working promptly with the permission of the court, we made all the necessary samples: gaits, visualization, so that the experts could work with this material as effectively as possible. This data helped to establish the identity of the persons in the video. In addition, for additional examination, I emphasize, for an objective assessment, for an understanding of the objective. Ana…. gait analysis, as we call it, one of the best specialists from Great Britain was involved, whose name is Ivan Birch, who cooperates with law enforcement agencies in Britain, the countries of the European Union and the United States of America. Birch processed the materials provided. It was a certain time, a very difficult study and provided his conclusions. Taking into account his opinion and the conclusions of the KNDISE experts on a comprehensive examination, which includes psychological, photo-portrait, and gait studies, I provided the following conclusions: 1. The male person participating in planting the explosive device under Sheremet’s car, this citizen Antonenko, I am summarizing, I am not reading these conclusions verbatim, I am just summarizing so that it is reasonable, understandable… 2nd conclusion: the female person who planted the explosive is Yulia Kuzmenko.
phones not working at night (17:46-17:48)
In addition, I would like to note that these conclusions are also confirmed by the analysis of the traffic of the specified persons at the time of the crime committed against Sheremet (17:47), namely: citizen Antonenko, whose phones were turned off from 23:24 on 19.07.2016 to 07:23 in the morning, that is, 20.07.2016, which is not typical for his behavior. Secondly, Yulia Kuzmenko did not use her phone from 19:36 on 19.07.16 to 09:19 on 20.07.2016, which is generally, I emphasize, generally, not typical for her, and is only, only on these dates, on the dates of the crime committed against Sheremet. Since she is always at work, and it was Wednesday the 20th, and she is usually at work from 7:30 or 8 a.m., if not, she is taking her child to school, or is doing personal business and is a very active person (5:48 p.m.), who is constantly communicating, using her mobile phone, just like in those days in 16, but during the period you mentioned, she does not use the phone, it just lies in one place.
prints on clothes and Mr. Antonenko’s limp (17:48-17:48)
Also important for the investigation was the fact that Antonenko often uses, as everyday clothes, specific… as everyday clothes with specific prints, that is, drawings identical to those recorded on the clothes planted with the explosives in Sheremet’s car.
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As you can see in the video. Antonenko, this is the following confirming factors, lives near the scene of the crime and is well oriented in the area, at that time he was limping after having surgery on his leg.
February 2016, there you see photos from open sources, from the Internet, below, where he poses in the hospital, with his operated leg, and on the left you see a square, it’s very interesting.
Bermuda Triangle (17:48-17:50)
The routes of the explosive devices are marked in black, there is a time when they appear at 2:15 and head down the map to the city where the explosive device was planted in Sheremet’s car, and then they appear already on the offensive… when working out at 2:51 minutes below, in this place they go around the block and again disappear from above. At the same time, I will add that all the streets around the perimeter of this square were worked out as carefully as all the internal streets. There are video cameras there, there are ATMs, other sources of information, there was no evidence of these people coming to this city or leaving. A large number of cars were worked out that could have arrived at that time and were driving somewhere along the streets. (17:50) The route, owner, and motive for being in that place were established for each car. In addition, the motive was checked, we found nothing. These people appeared from this square, as if from the Bermuda Triangle, and again disappeared there. The house where Antonenko lives is marked in red. I think it’s clear what I’m talking about. and the fact that he limped… yes. And this is very clearly visible on the video, experts noticed it and it is visible to such an uneducated, non-expert eye, if you watch the entire video again, which you will have the opportunity to do later.
involvement of the Hryshchenkos (17:50-17:52)
Yes, that means what I want to say about Hryshchenko’s phones, if we analyze them. The Hryshchenkos have a similar situation. The phones are in Dnipropetrovsk. Where they should be, supposedly taking into account the alibi about documenting the crime of contract murder in Dnipropetrovsk. And they are really there from 10.07 to 21.07.2016, but the character… but it is also not typical for them, not typical at all, precisely on these days, there is no activity from ten o’clock, that is, the morning of 19.07.2016 to 11 o’clock on 20.07.2016, for almost a day the phones lie without activity, just in Dnipropetrovsk. We looked at their activity before that and after that for the maximum possible period, the activity is present constantly, only on these days, there is no such activity. (17:52) Yes, that is, we conclude, investigators, that both Kuzmenko, who left it at the place of registration, and Hryshchenko left the phones in the city of Dnipropetrovsk. The time that I noted without activity on the phones allows you to calmly drive to the city of Kyiv, even by car or other means, do what was done in relation to Sheremet, and then calmly get back to Dnipropetrovsk, take a shower, have lunch, and then pick up the phones.
identification of Ms. Dugar (17:52-17:53)
So, yes, regarding the female person who was recorded on video cameras 5 and 2 days before the crime, who recorded the location of the cameras on a mobile phone, that’s what we call her, a scout. According to our data, this is Yana Dugar.
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Expert studies ordered as part of the investigation confirmed that it is she in the picture, I emphasize expert studies. This is the girl…
discrediting the Hryshchenko couple (17:53-17:56)
I would like to say a few words about the characteristics of our suspects. Inna Hryshchenko was actively involved in assisting military units; during the ATO she acquired several apartments and several cars.
I will not give these audio recordings now, because there are a lot of them, hundreds of hours of audio recordings, various conversations, among which there is also how it was acquired… was acquired or acquired into ownership and these are very rather cynical moments, but what else do we want to say about her. (17:54) She has tough leadership qualities, is decisive and purposeful and this is also confirmed by various conversations, including with her husband. I ask for audio …
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Yevhen Koval: As we understand it, this conversation was, most likely, about the customers.
or accomplices to the crime, we understand that through blackmail, money is being extorted from the customers for the murder of citizen Ch. in Ivano-Frankivsk in 18, this has been documented by the investigator, investigators, the investigative and operational group, we understand that these individuals are demanding the purchase of three-room apartments for themselves for these crimes, for committing this crime. (17:55) They are demanding payment to lawyers, which are very expensive, this is also documented and this money for lawyers is given by the customer of the murder, in 18 in Ivano-Frankivsk. By the way, today we are also detaining him, we are declaring him a suspect as the customer. There is a whole family that was involved in this case. About Vladislav Hryshchenko. Previously convicted of extortion, fraud, robbery, has a total of 6 convictions. He is a specialist in explosives and has combat experience, it must be admitted, in the ATO (JPO) zone, even heroic experience. Claims that he can easily and quickly make explosives, in any conditions. I ask for audio…
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Yevhen Koval: This is what he says to his interlocutor, in places of deprivation of liberty, where we keep him and there we record this conversation.
discrediting Yulia Kuzmenko (17:56-18:02)
Next, Yulia Kuzmenko works as a pediatric surgeon in Okhmatdyt.
During the ATO, she provided assistance to the military, she really did. In recent years, she … became the owner of a house and several cars, you can see it in the diagram. Repeatedly in conversations with relatives, I emphasize, further … expressed radical views and discussed various scenarios aimed at destabilizing the socio-political situation in Ukraine. In particular, involving the military and shelling the capital (17:57) with rocket artillery, I emphasize the capital, this is the city of Kyiv. I ask for audio…
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Yevhen Koval: I think the discussions are very interesting, how many cassettes, HRADs are needed to bring us Kyiv residents and visitors to Kyiv into a state of shock and destabilize the situation. The next recent conversation, citizen Yulia Kuzmenko, the next conversation, indicates the discussion and approval of a certain scenario (17:58). I will tell you, this is not a separate and not one discussion, these materials are under investigation, they are legalized and will be further investigated accordingly, but I want to focus on one conversation at a time. So, regarding the scenario to stabilize the internal situation in the country by choosing a sacred victim. From the circle of well-known and popular people in society, namely women, this time. Discusses the commission of illegal actions against them, which should shake up society. The interlocutors… the interlocutors in this context mention their close acquaintance, a well-known volunteer and activist Marusya Zvirobiy, as a possible sacred victim. I ask for audio…
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Yevhen Koval: You yourself have heard everything, that is, if you choose a famous person who is in a certain situation, in a political or social one. Somehow in a political or personal one, in some dependence: it is possible to commit a crime against her from the authorities, in order to push her to some other political processes, or to some other figures or law enforcement officers in general, you can raise a fuss and then you understand for yourself what will begin, and also a crime can be committed, as an idea in relation to… (18:02) in relation to her children, so that the sacred victim herself takes the most active actions to destabilize the situation.
closing remarks (18:02-18:03)
Thus, the investigation received in total reasonable grounds for suspicions of certain individuals in involvement in the organization and execution of the murder of a citizen of the Russian Federation, journalist Pavel Sheremet, precisely with the aim of possible destabilization of the internal socio-political situation in the country. Currently, the police are conducting a number of investigative actions, namely searches and detentions, and are preparing to hand over the documents agreed with the procedural leaders, with the Prosecutor General’s Office, who, by the way, were very helpful at the stage of the entire investigation and took such a strong-willed position regarding the provision of further permits for the conduct of relevant investigative overt and covert investigative actions. (18:03). So, the presentation of suspicions with the procedural leaders and the selection of preventive measures by the courts for the suspects are being prepared. Let me remind you that the investigation has a much larger amount of information than we have made public here. There is much more that could be said, but I apologize and can only say the amount of information that the investigator gave us permission to share, and therefore I put the maximum that I could into this permission. Therefore, thank you for the report, allow me…
Artem Shevchenko: I would like to introduce the Head of the National Police of Ukraine, Ihor Klymenko, a police general of the third rank, and I will give him a short speech.
Speech by the Head of the National Police, Ihor Klymenko (18:03 – 18:05)
Ihor Klymenko: Dear Mr. President, dear Minister of Internal Affairs, dear Prosecutor General, dear journalists, I am here! (18:04) The operatives and investigators have really carried out a huge amount of work, as it was said – “colossal”. In addition to the large number of investigative actions, some of which we have presented today, many more operational and procedural measures have been carried out, for which… thanks to which we managed to combine all the information received. I want to note that three and a half years have passed since the crime was committed. It is extremely difficult to work on such latent, contract crimes that were not solved on the spot, so we had to collect all the information bit by bit in order to fill the evidence base. And in this context, I would like to highlight the important role of the media and journalists, including those present in this hall, who provided the video reports filmed as part of journalistic investigations. (18:05) I want to confirm that during the investigation at certain stages there was indeed systemic resistance. We have an understanding of who did it. I do not exclude that in the future some of these individuals will be subjects of the investigation. We really could not tell you more today than you have heard. There is too much information in our materials. But given the public outcry and the fact that this… this crime is under the control of the state leadership, every citizen of Ukraine really, with the help and permission of the investigators, we could have made this information public. Perhaps someone else has additional information in order to help the investigation. We are ready to take note of this information, ensure the safety of these citizens and confidentiality. We are ready to cooperate and will listen to everyone and check every piece of information that comes to the National Police. Thank you.
Artem Shevchenko: Please. A short speech by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Ruslan Ryaboshapka.
Prosecutor General Ruslan Ryaboshapka: the persons who committed the murder have been identified (18:05 – 18:08)
Ruslan Ryaboshapka: Dear Mr. President, dear Mr. Minister, colleagues from the National Police, dear guests. You know, while the country is recovering from the shock, I would just like to note the titanic work of our colleagues from the National Police, our fellow prosecutors. It seems to me that very few people in the country (18:06) believed that such a crime could be solved. And it is actually very good that those colleagues who have just reported to you actually believed in it. And it was successful. (18:07) I would also like to say that in fact these are only some kind of first steps in solving the crime. Since only those persons who planned and actually committed the murder were identified, and in fact the country has yet to hear the answer to who was the initiator or organizer of this terrible crime. I hope that the country will receive an answer to this question as well. And, actually, the last one. Journalists often ask me what kind of cooperation is currently between the prosecutor’s office and the National Police, what your relationship is with the Minister of Internal Affairs. It seems to me that the actual disclosure of this crime is a clear example of the fact that the prosecutor’s office and the National Police actually (it seems to me that for the first time in all the history of independent Ukraine) have excellent cooperation and it is yielding results. I hope that in the near future we will see the disclosure of not only this, but also many other high-profile crimes. (18:08) Once again, I would like to note the work… the titanic work of my colleagues from the National Police and the prosecutor’s office, and congratulate them on such a truly… serious success. Thank you again.
Artem Shevchenko: Thank you. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
President of Ukraine: The killers have been detained, who ordered it (18:08 – 18:09)
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (18:08): Good afternoon, dear journalists. First, I want to say it openly. I think there will be too many emotions about what we saw. A few months ago, we had a meeting and I told you that for our team, I am sure — for everyone, this is special, something special. This is one of the priority criminal cases that we want to solve. (18:09) I want to thank everyone today, Mr. Minister, thank you … thank you personally, guys, all the investigators, all the prosecutors, Mr. Prosecutor General, thank you for the really powerful work. The alleged murderers were detained today. A lot, I am sure, you all saw it yourself, a lot of answers, thank God, we received today with you. But there is one more question – who ordered it. I am sure that there will definitely be an answer to this question next time. This will be… I really want to believe that this will be the third, last, meeting regarding this very high-profile case of the murder of Pavel Sheremet. The third. I think there is no need for more. I don’t want this to be such a, you know, in quotes, series. And as we said, this is a very priority matter for us. Unfortunately… (18:09) Unfortunately, there are still many such cases in our country, but I am sure, in principle I don’t want to repeat the words that the Prosecutor General said. I am sure that the current cooperation between law enforcement agencies, the strong cooperation between law enforcement agencies that exists, will definitely find us conclusions, all the criminals will definitely be behind bars. This is the answer to what we are all working together for. Thank you again.
Answers to D. Khlyuk’s question about the motive. There was no destabilization (18:10 – 18:12)
Artem Shevchenko: Thank you all. Friends, the investigation has a lot of work to do, and the country’s leaders and law enforcement agencies, as we agreed, have a few questions, let’s limit them to three, approach the technical worker, formulate it very briefly and introduce yourself, please, the first question, who is it? Dmytro Khilyuk, UNIAN, please… Turn on, (18:11) turn on the mountain
Dmytro Khylyuk: Regarding the motive for the murder… Don’t you think that the figure of Sheremet was not well-known enough, let’s say, to the Ukrainian people to destabilize the situation in Ukraine as a whole, and, in fact, this destabilization did not occur, so isn’t the motive for the murder a weak point? Thank you
Artem Shevchenko: Thank you.
Ihor Klymenko: Once… I want to say that the figure of Sheremet was quite well-known in Ukraine, he was a person who was known not only in Ukraine, but also abroad.
Sheremet was a famous publicist, a famous presenter, and this person was known to almost everyone in this country. Therefore, we do not think that the statement that this was an unknown person is a correct statement.
Artem Shevchenko: (18:12) Can anyone else add? Yevhen Oleksandrovych? Maksym Serhiyovych, no? No. I would like to ask a question from this side. Please introduce yourself…
Answers to I. Burdiga’s questions about Russia’s participation (18:12 – 18:13)
Igor Burdyga: Igor Burdyga, “Graty” [graty.me] publication. Please tell me, in 2016, there was a version about destabilization, a version about destabilization of the situation in the country from Russia.
Is this version of the involvement of the “Kremlin Hand” still being considered and how will it affect international negotiations now? Maybe Mr. President will say?
Maksym Tsutskiridze: You see, we showed you the main versions. There are a number of sub-versions that we are currently working on. And, again, at this stage, active investigative actions are ongoing… Of course, if there is additional information… and there will be, we will inform you of it, accordingly, additionally.
Artem Shevchenko: Please…
Arsen Avakov: There are several subversions in this version. … as the head of the investigation said… But, for example (18:13) Sheremet wrote a book together with Nemtsov, Sheremet published several materials that exposed the relevant current regime in the neighboring state. Therefore, this version can also be. And this is also considered.
Artem Shevchenko: Thank you, let’s ask the last question from this side and finish, let’s let the investigators and heads of law enforcement agencies work.
Answers to S. Lukashova’s questions about the participation of special services and the agreement between the president and the minister about a position in exchange for the disclosure of the case (18:13 – 18:15)
Sonya Lukashova: “Ukrainian Pravda”, Sonya Lukashova. Please tell me whether the suspects in the case or other persons whose names we heard today were or are employees of Ukrainian (or non-Ukrainian) special law enforcement agencies or law enforcement agencies in general? And also “Public Television” asked to pass on the question to the Minister and the President: was there an agreement that Mr. Avakov would retain his position in exchange for the speedy resolution of the Sheremet case? Thank you.
Maxim Tsutskiridze: I will answer the first part of the question. So far, we have 3 suspects in the criminal proceedings… Again, at the moment, the service and search measures are ongoing. (18:14) We do not exclude and we hope that the circle of persons will be expanded. … regarding the suspects.
Arsen Avakov: I don’t think that now is the place to discuss political rumors… but very seriously I can tell you that I have one agreement: to work honestly and, most importantly, to be comfortable. There are no others. And it is not a fact that after this case and a number of other completed cases, I will not want to ask for resignation.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy: If I may… I would like to complement the Minister in principle, we have… a serious matter, the murder of Pavel Sheremet.
I want to tell you that, in principle, it’s not just me, and I think that no decent person makes any “agreements” in quotes, in blood. Thank you.
Artem Shevchenko (18:15): Thank you very much. This concludes our briefing and our presentation. Thank you for your attention. You can get all the materials…
See also
Documents
Sheremet’s case. Materials of the expert examination of the identification of Andriy Antonenko
Video
Ministry of Internal Affairs briefing with subtitles (Ukrainian/Russian/English) on our YouTube channel.
Myths in the Sheremet case. Part 1. Myths 1 and 2.
Read also in the article section:
Sheremet case. Transcript and analysis of Prosecutor Zuzak’s speech on February 5, 2020. Video