Sister of Kakhovka Victim: Three Killers, My Brother Was Shot in the Back

On January 1, during a domestic dispute in Kakhovka (a city of regional significance in Kherson Region), 26-year-old Vladimir Chebukin was injured by gunfire. The man had a conflict with his former wife Valeria and her current partner, police officer Yuriy Kashnikov, over their shared child; Vladimir's ex-wife reportedly did not allow him to see his son. During the conflict, Valeria's partner and, allegedly, his friends opened fire on Vladimir Chebukin.

On January 3, the man died from his wounds. 15 bullets were removed from his body.

The media have already called the incident the 'new Vradiivka'. Dozens of protesters gathered outside the police precinct and set tires on fire: local residents claim that footage from surveillance cameras has disappeared and accuse police of concealing details of the crime. The protesters claim that there was more than one shooter and that the killing of the 26-year-old is being reclassified as self-defense.

TK Media spoke with the victim's sister, Daria Chebukina and learned what happened that night and how the investigation into her brother's murder is progressing.

- Please accept our condolences. Tell us what happened on the night of December 31 to January 1?

- My brother had a conflict with the partner of his former wife Valeria, Yuriy Kashnikov, over their shared child. They had a very long conversation during the evening. They clashed repeatedly. They were pulled apart the first time. The second time they 'collided' at the City nightclub, and they were pulled apart again. After that, Valeria took Yuriy home. Then they started exchanging messages and argued a lot. Everyone who sat at the table with Yura and Lera said: 'They were arguing, they were fighting with each other.'

At 5:30 a.m., my brother left the City nightclub and headed off in an unclear direction. He said: 'I'm probably going to go home.' He just left without saying anything. In fact, it turned out that at that time he went to their home, the Grand sports club in the city center. It's about 200 meters from the City club. He drove around it from the courtyard side, because they simply live there. The first floor is the sports club, and the 2nd and 3rd floors are residential apartments. He went there. Valeria's father's first version: Vova came to them, started climbing over the fence with a pistol and shouting that he would kill everyone.

The second version, given when Valeria arrived at the intensive care unit, is that [Valeria and her partner Yuriy Kashnikov]: he came in and opened the gate with his key. Although he didn't have keys, because they've been divorced since August.

And the third version, as she [Valeria] told it during questioning with a 'twist': 'Yes, they were waiting for him. They opened the gate themselves, and the shooting started.'

But, as it now turns out, it all happened not on the courtyard territory, but beyond the yard. They started shooting when he was getting out of the car. Because his car was shot up, there are bullet holes in it. And all the bullets that hit him entered from behind. He turned around, then he ran. This is the latest version we pieced together step by step. 

- Who is your brother's ex-wife's partner?

- He is a serving police officer. There were two or three [police officers during the shooting]. Most likely there were three people, because three types of bullets were found in Vova: from a submachine gun with a silencer, from a traumatic pistol, and from an American rifle. This rifle  is the only one in Kakhovka that anyone has. It is registered to Timur Muntyan, who allegedly was already at home at that moment, according to her father. They are simply hiding him so that no one finds out. The second person is Alexander Portnoy. He is the person who issues weapons permits. He was fired along with Yuriy retroactively. As it turned out in court, Yuriy was dismissed in 2012, and Kashnikov, it seems, in 2013. Portnoy has been suspended from duty for the duration of the investigation.

On the 3rd at 6:50 a.m., my brother died. He had a second cardiac arrest. Before that he had been clinically dead. The second time, his heart could not be restarted.

- What is the current status of the investigation?

- Yuriy Kashnikov has now been arrested for 60 days. Yesterday he was represented by four lawyers. Four people sat on his side, while there was no one on our side. 

Kashnikov was taken into custody for 60 days, and yesterday Portnoy was taken for a polygraph test so he would tell what happened. At first he said he 'dragged him into the yard but did not shoot'. To the question 'Who dragged Vova into the yard?' he answered: 'I don't know.' 'Who called the ambulance?' 'I don't know.' As it turned out, Yuriy called the ambulance from his own phone, but they did not call the police.

- Protesters outside the police precinct claim that surveillance camera footage has disappeared. Is this true?

- Yes, they (Valeria and Yuriy) had cameras all around the perimeter, with no blind spots. But there is no video footage. Valeria's father says that supposedly someone from our side came and took the recordings. That's not true. Now there are rumors that my brother could have started shooting first and Yuriy was just defending himself; they want to reclassify everything as 'self-defense'. If we had the camera footage, we would know who opened fire first.