On August 7, the Shevchenkivsky District Court of Lviv extended the pretrial detention of Viacheslav Zinchenko, a suspect in the murder of linguist and former MP Iryna Farion. He was sentenced to 60 days in custody without the possibility of posting bail.
This was reported by Suspilne Lviv from the courtroom.
At the hearing was lawyer Diana Kara, who was assigned to Zinchenko through the Western Interregional Center for Free Legal Aid. According to her, the accused refuses her services, as well as the services of the state attorney. Instead, he chooses his own defense attorney under the contract Larysa Kryvoruchko.
Journalists noted that lawyers insisted on 24-hour house arrest during the case.
The Murder of Irina Farion
On July 19, 2024, former MP of the Verkhovna Rada, linguist Iryna Farion, was murdered in Lviv.
Almost a week later, on July 25, the suspect was detained in Dnipro. He turned out to be 18-year-old Vyacheslav Zinchenko. Screenshots from Google Maps were found on the suspectʼs phone, which showed streets connected to Farion. They also found pro-Russian pictures there — with the FSB logo and Nazi symbols, and memes about the linguist.
Law enforcement officers found out that back in 2022, Zinchenko joined a group on one of the messengers that spread ideas of violence, cruelty, and promoted racial, national, and religious intolerance and discrimination. In 2024, he became a member of another group associated with a Russian neo-Nazi organization.
According to the investigation, while in these groups, the suspect allegedly developed a personal dislike for Iryna Farion because of her active position in protecting the Ukrainian language and culture.
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