Shooting at the shopping mall in Lviv: what is known about the shooter
Kyiv • UNN
On April 9, a man in a wheelchair fired a pistol into the floor at the "Forum" shopping center in Lviv. The media reports that he is a local fraudster, previously convicted of theft.
On Wednesday evening, April 9, in the "Forum" shopping center in Lviv, a man in a wheelchair fired a shot into the floor from a pistol. Local media claim that the shooter was a local fraudster who was imprisoned for theft and used a fake certificate of a combatant, writes UNN.
Details
Yesterday, April 9, UNN reported that in the evening in the Forum shopping and entertainment center in Lviv, a visitor who was moving in a wheelchair fired a shot into the floor from a pistol. Law enforcement officers arrived at the scene and seized his weapon, there were no casualties.
According to the head of the Lviv Center for the provision of services to combatants, Andriy Zholob, the shooter was Vitaliy Kovalenko.
This man with a pistol (fortunately, not a combat one), Vitaliy Kovalenko, is not a defining representative of combatants, although he did receive certain signs (such as a UBD certificate) at one time
Local media reports that in December 2016, Kovalenko was detained in Kyiv by the Security Service of Ukraine with a fake certificate of a colonel of intelligence.
According to the SBU, the detainee extorted hundreds of thousands of hryvnias from businessmen and officials, allegedly to help the military. Kovalenko's case was handed over to the National Police, but they did not find enough evidence and released the man.
It is also reported that the man was in the Lychakiv correctional colony from 2003 to 2009, in particular, for car theft, document fraud and extortion.
In 2020, it was reported that the man had been wearing a military uniform for years, calling himself a colonel and collecting donations for himself in Poltava, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv. The man claimed that he had participated in fierce battles, but there is still no confirmation of this. Everywhere he brought only copies, not originals.
At the same time, Kovalenko did go to the ATO zone, lived near the front for some time, and published relevant footage. He also served in the 24th Brigade named after King Danylo, but for too short a period - only from June 23 to July 14, 2017. Therefore, he did not receive the UBD there.
On September 11, 2017, he was enrolled in the 131st reconnaissance battalion. He also did not stay there for long - a month and a half later he was dismissed due to professional incompetence.
In February 2020, Kovalenko received a real UBD certificate, but the following month he was served with a suspicion of document forgery, and later fined 850 hryvnias for using a knowingly forged document.
The police of Lviv region informed the UNN journalist that the issue of legal qualification is currently being resolved.
