The Shevchenkivsky District Court of Lviv has sentenced 20-year-old Vyacheslav Zinchenko, accused of the murder of linguist Iryna Farion. He was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.
This is reported by Suspilne from the courtroom.
Zinchenko is accused of intentional murder of a person in connection with the performance of his civic duty for reasons of national intolerance (Part 2 of Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), as well as of illegal handling of weapons (Part 1 of Article 263 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
During the hearing, Zinchenko denied his guilt. The judge read out the verdict and emphasized that the accused had been repeatedly offered to speak during the debates, but he had refused each time due to the lack of coordination of his position with the defense attorneys.
Since his arrest, Zinchenko has been in custody, where he will remain until the verdict comes into force. The courtʼs decision can be appealed within 30 days.
The Murder of Iryna Farion
On July 19, 2024, a 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 suspect’s phone, which showed streets connected to Farion. They also found pro-Russian pictures there — with the FSB logo, as well as Nazi symbols and memes about the linguist.
Law enforcement officers found out that Zinchenko joined a group on a messenger in 2022 that spread ideas of violence, cruelty, and also 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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