Police Identify Suspects in Murder of Pavel Sheremet: All That Is Known and the Evidence Against Them

All the suspects are linked to the volunteer movement. One of the witnesses committed suicide.

Police have detained suspects in the murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet. They have been charged in the case of the journalist’s murder. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced this on his Twitter page, thanking the investigators for their service. Avakov stressed that the suspicion against the detainees is well-founded and said that investigative actions are continuing, but due to the public resonance, the ministry decided to present part of the evidence at a briefing.

Who are the suspects?

Around 15:00, volunteer Andriy Antonenko wrote on his page that he was being charged with “the murder of Sheremet”  and reported that a search was being prepared at his home. As Andriy Antonenko told the TV channel “112” in a comment, the second suspect is doctor Yulia Kuzmenko. According to journalist Bohdan Aminov, the third suspect is volunteer Petro Kiyan. Later Antonenko refused to sign the notice of suspicion.

Andriy Antonenko is a rock musician, lead singer of the band “Riffmaster” and author of the hit “Quietly Came, Quietly Went”, which became an unofficial anthem of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Special Operations Forces. In 2017, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wrote about Antonenko as a person who had helped the army as a volunteer since the first days of the war.

Yulia Kuzmenko is a doctor at Okhmatdyt, head of the X-ray angiography department, and a volunteer. She actively helped the military. According to information announced by investigators, over recent years she improved her financial situation: she bought a house and several cars.

Petro Kiyan — volunteer. Presumably appears in the investigation materials under the call sign “Electrician”.

Also involved in the case are Vladyslav Hryshchenko (“Bucha”) and Inna Hryshchenko (“Puma”). They were arrested as part of the investigation into an attempted murder of an entrepreneur in Ivano-Frankivsk region, where an identical explosive device was used. Vladyslav Hryshchenko has three prior convictions. Earlier, Vladyslav Hryshchenko was involved in a case of a contract killing of a farmer. Then he took the initiative, reported the received order to law enforcement and testified against the client. The case is pending in court. At the Interior Ministry briefing, General Koval hinted that cooperation with investigators was not Hryshchenko’s initiative.

Another figure in the case is Yana Dugar. She allegedly took photographs of the planned crime scene shortly before Pavel Sheremet’s murder and was connected with the above-mentioned persons. 

What is the evidence?

At a briefing organized by the Interior Ministry, in the presence of Prosecutor General Ruslan Riaboshapka and President Volodymyr Zelensky, National Police General Yevhen Koval told about the progress of the investigation. As Koval said, investigators questioned 7,300 people and checked footage from 221 cameras, in some cases examining camera recordings from 2.5 months. In particular, they studied the male and female suspects caught on camera.

While investigating Pavel Sheremet’s murder, police noticed two similar crimes. The first was the explosion of an electricity pole in Kherson region. Investigators noticed a similar pattern on the clothing of a man who appeared in the Kherson explosion materials. That man was Andriy Antonenko. He lived in Kyiv, not far from the place of Pavel Sheremet’s murder.

Investigators began studying Antonenko’s circle and noticed the suspect’s ties with Yulia Kuzmenko and citizen “K” with the call sign “Electrician”. 

The second case that drew the attention of law enforcement was the failed attempt on entrepreneur Ch. in Ivano-Frankivsk region, in which an almost identical explosive device was used, the one used to kill Pavel Sheremet. In the course of this case, citizen V. “Pistolet” (according to media reports, Ivan Vakulenko) was identified, as well as Vladyslav Hryshchenko (“Bucha”) and Inna Hryshchenko (“Puma”). “Pistolet” could have helped Hryshchenko prepare the entrepreneur’s murder by driving them to the crime scene as a driver.

Traces of DNA of the Hryshchenko family were found on the explosive device used in the attempt on citizen Ch. “Bucha” and “Puma” turned out to be connected with “Electrician” from Antonenko’s circle. During investigative actions, investigators summoned “Pistolet” Ivan Vakulenko for questioning, about which he informed Inna Hryshchenko (“Bucha”) by phone. Investigators have recordings of phone conversations in which Inna Hryshchenko tries to give instructions on what Vakulenko should say. General Koval noted that the figures were not surprised by interest in them within the Sheremet investigation, but they perceived the trip to question Vakulenko as a threat.

Later Vakulenko went out of contact and Hryshchenko began asking about his whereabouts, including contacting her husband Vladyslav Hryshchenko, who by then was already in pretrial detention in the case of the attempt on citizen Ch. Vladyslav Hryshchenko expressed serious concern about investigators’ interest in Vakulenko in the Sheremet murder case and said that Inna Hryshchenko had “finished him off” with this information. Some time later, “Pistolet” Ivan Vakulenko was found dead in his sister’s apartment. The official version is suicide, from a gunshot to the head with a rifle. In phone conversations shown by investigators, Inna Hryshchenko expresses satisfaction at the news of Vakulenko’s death. When her husband asked whether Inna Hryshchenko thinks Vakulenko could have been helped to die, Hryshchenko replied that she is sure it was suicide: in her opinion, Vakulenko “didn’t pull off Sheremet”.

After information emerged that investigators were interested in figures in the context of the Sheremet case, the figure with the call sign “Electrician” said in a conversation with Vladyslav Hryshchenko that he wanted to kill himself because of “what he had done”.  Also  in phone conversations from the pretrial detention center, “Bucha” claimed that he could make any bomb in 15 minutes.

In addition, forensic examination and a British expert engaged in the case confirmed that the man and woman who planted an unknown device under Pavel Sheremet’s car, whose actions were captured on camera, are Yulia Kuzmenko (“Lisa”) and Andriy Antonenko (“Riffmaster”). Furthermore, according to the investigation, the suspects’ involvement is indirectly confirmed by an analysis of subscribers’ cell tower connections: on the date of Pavel Sheremet’s murder they did not use their mobile phones. Investigators stress that this is completely uncharacteristic behavior for suspects compared with other dates.

In addition, the specific gait of the man near the murder site matches Antonenko’s distinctive gait (a limping walk). According to investigators’ information presented at the briefing, in conversations with relatives Yulia Kuzmenko expressed radical views, for example, shelling of the capital with Grad rockets. Kuzmenko also discussed searching for a “hero-victim” among women. In particular, volunteer Marusya Zvyrobii and her children were discussed as one of the potential victims. “If the cops had beaten up that mother, it would have been perfect. We need to find Joan of Arc.”

Another figure in the case is Yana Dugar. According to the investigation, the young woman could have scouted and secretly photographed the planned crime scene shortly before the murder.  Her actions were caught on video cameras, and an examination confirmed that the girl in the footage is indeed Dugar. Dugar knew the other suspects. 

In addition, the client of the murder of the entrepreneur in Ivano-Frankivsk region has also been detained. He paid the suspects’ lawyers.