There is no escaping responsibility with any new version: Prosecutor General Kravchenko on the appeal hearing of the verdict against Maksym Materukhin's killer
Kyiv • UNN
The first hearing in the case of the murder of 16-year-old Maksym Materukhin at the funicular station took place in the Kyiv Court of Appeal. Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko stated that the prosecution's position remains unchanged – life imprisonment.
Today, the first hearing in the case of the murder of 16-year-old Maksym Materukhin at the Kyiv funicular station took place in the Kyiv Court of Appeal. This was announced by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko, who emphasized that the prosecution's position remains unchanged - life imprisonment, UNN reports.
Details
The Prosecutor General elaborated on the progress of the first hearing in the Kyiv Court of Appeal - on the defense's attempts to move the case to a closed session, cynical manipulations, and attempts to evade responsibility with new versions.
Already at the beginning of the proceedings, the accused and his defense tried to move the case to a closed session: they filed a motion to prohibit photo and video recording for the media. I am grateful to the court for hearing the arguments of the state prosecution and the victims' lawyers and denying this motion. This is a high-profile case. And I am convinced: society has the right to know what is happening in court.
It should be noted that the defense of the accused is appealing the verdict of the court of first instance dated September 22, 2025.
My position as a prosecutor in this proceeding is principled and unchangeable: the verdict of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court is lawful and fully justified. Lack of remorse. Throughout the entire trial, there was no regret or awareness of what had been done, neither in words nor in behavior. Nothing has changed today either. Only insolence and cynical manipulations.
According to Kravchenko, the accused is again giving contradictory testimony: in the video from police body cameras, he directly said that he "decided to do a hip throw."
Today in court, we heard another version about an "accidental fall," and later another: that Maksym was allegedly "accidentally pushed by someone else." Witnesses confirmed: the actions were intentional. The conclusions of the comprehensive forensic medical, medico-criminalistic, and traceological examinations are unambiguous: Maksym's bodily injuries were inflicted as a result of the accused's targeted actions. The version of negligence or accident is excluded.
The Prosecutor General also emphasized that there are no "gray areas" in this case.
There is a murdered child. And there must be accountability that cannot be escaped by any new version.
Context
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 of the fall.
On September 22, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv sentenced Artem Kosov to life imprisonment for the murder of Materukhin on the funicular. The prosecution requested the highest penalty for the accused. At that time, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko stated that the prosecution in the case of the murder of a teenager on the capital's funicular was ready for an appeal.
Addition
Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko expressed the initiative for the need to introduce an alternative-free punishment in the form of life imprisonment for particularly serious crimes against children. He appealed to the Verkhovna Rada's law enforcement committee with a proposal to support the relevant initiative and introduce such punishment for the murder and rape of children.
Today, life imprisonment is provided for in exceptional cases; mostly, it refers to a punishment of 15 years of imprisonment, sometimes with the possibility of reducing the term of punishment.
It should be added that the prosecution is actively seeking the imposition of the most severe sentence - life imprisonment for serious crimes against children.