A resident of Zhytomyr, accused of killing six soldiers and a volunteer, has died — he did not wait for the verdict

Anatoliy Zakharenko, 62 y. o., accused of murdering seven people, died on December 17. The court considered the case for four years and has not yet issued a verdict.

The information was confirmed to Suspilne by Zakharenkoʼs former lawyer Kateryna Voronyuk.

The manʼs current lawyer Maksym Linevych says that he does not yet have documentary confirmation of his clientʼs death. He learned about the event from his relatives.

"Itʼs true, my father died. He felt sick, we took him to the hospital. He was in intensive care for two days, but, unfortunately, he died on the morning of December 17," said his son Oleksiy Zakharenko.

The prosecutor in Zakharenkoʼs case Valeriy Sahadin says that the next hearing is scheduled for January 13, 2025.

"His defense attorney must come and provide documents certifying the death of his client. The attorney must also state their position in this case: do they insist on rehabilitation or not? After that, we will decide whether to continue hearing the case or close the proceedings," says Sahadin.

Murder of a soldier and a volunteer in the Zhytomyr region

In 2020, police in Zhytomyr region detained a man on suspicion of killing seven people. The shooting occurred near the village of Novoselytsia (Popilnyanskyi district). It later turned out that six of the victims were military personnel, and another man was a volunteer.

The case was scheduled to have 85 court hearings. The panel of judges and the presiding judge were changed during the trial. The accused Anatoliy Zakharenko was released from custody two years after the trial began. Zakharenko spent the last two years under 24-hour house arrest.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.