"No more games": Prosecutor General Kravchenko on the case of the murder of a young man on the funicular

The prosecution will seek a fair punishment for the accused in the case of the murder of a young man on the funicular in the capital in the spring of 2024. This was stated by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, who personally joined the group of prosecutors supporting the prosecution, UNN reports.

Details

Today, Kravchenko personally, as a state prosecutor, participated in the court hearing of the case of the murder of 10th-grader Maksym Materukhin - a tragedy that shook the entire country in the spring of 2024. The accused is former State Protection Department employee Artem Kosov.

"For over a year, his lawyers did everything to delay the proceedings: disrupting sessions, manipulations, outright mockery of the deceased's memory. And today, a new 'move': they completely abandoned the defense to put the process on hold again.

However, it didn't work. At my request, the court appointed a free lawyer for the accused, who will work with him on a permanent basis. There will be no more games," Kravchenko emphasized. 

According to him, this crime should receive the only fair punishment, life imprisonment.

The verdict will not bring Maksym back to his parents. But it should show everyone: no one will escape responsibility for a crime

Addition

Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko explained his decision to personally support the prosecution in the case of the murder of a young man on the funicular by his duty, the protection of children's rights, and the pursuit of fair punishment.

"From the first week of my work in office, I instructed all heads of regional prosecutor's offices to personally represent the prosecution in cases where children were affected. And I myself, as an ordinary prosecutor, participate in such processes," he added. 

Let's add

Today, August 14, the Shevchenkivskyi Court of Kyiv extended the pre-trial detention of Artem Kosov, an employee of the State Protection Department accused in the case of the death of a teenager at the funicular station, until October 11 without the right to bail. The defense of the accused asked to mitigate Kosov's pre-trial detention and change the arrest to round-the-clock house arrest.

At today's court session, a new free lawyer was appointed. The next session will take place on August 20.

Recall 

On April 8, 2024, Artem Kosov was notified of suspicion of intentional murder of a teenager. As established by the investigation, the incident occurred at the upper funicular station, which leads to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building and St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery. Kosov, being intoxicated, began to harass a group of teenagers, among whom was Maksym Materukhin. Kosov pushed the 16-year-old boy, who died from the impact when he fell.

The investigation in the proceedings was conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation, as at the time of the crime, the suspect was serving in the UDO.

On April 9, 2024, the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv remanded the law enforcement officer in custody for 60 days, without the right to bail. After that, the pre-trial detention was extended several times, and currently the accused is in the pre-trial detention center.

On May 5, 2024, DBR employees completed the pre-trial investigation, after which the case materials were handed over to the defense for review. On May 29, the indictment against Artem Kosov, an employee of the State Protection Department, was sent to the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of the capital. During the investigation, DBR investigators established that the murder of the minor was committed out of hooligan motives, for which he faces life imprisonment.