Suspect in Podil Girls' Murders Was Recently Released from Custody in Robbery Case

Both suspects have been placed on the wanted list.

Bodies of two dead girls were found in Kyiv's Podil district. A woman who rents out an apartment at 127 Kyrylivska Street found the bound bodies of the girls in a wardrobe. Photos of the suspects have appeared. This was reported by Informator. 

The girls' bodies were in a wardrobe on the balcony, bound and with dozens of stab wounds. The victims were Maria Kamynina and Eva Lysenko, born in 2003 and 2000 respectively. As reported by Informator, they had gone missing on January 2.  

Police have placed a man and a woman on the wanted list. Both suspects have left their places of residence. Law enforcement asks anyone with any information to call 102.

Wanted for a particularly serious crime:

• Serhiy Dmytrovych Ksondzyk born 25.05.1985
• Yelyzaveta Vasylivna Bershavska born 28.08.2000

According to TK Media, suspect Serhiy Dmytrovych Ksondzyk had previously been convicted of robbery involving violence that was not dangerous to the life and health of the victims. The case was heard by the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Lviv. During the court proceedings, a preventive measure of detention was ordered for 60 days, from 24 September 2018 to 22 November 2018 inclusive.

On 14 May 2019 the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Lviv extended the arrest of the defendant until 21 July. On 21 July 2019 the arrest term expired and the defendant was released from custody. The prosecutor's office did not request any further preventive measure. In October 2019 he filed a motion to have a free lawyer appointed for him.

On the day the girls went missing, 2 January 2020, the suspect changed his number in the FOP.

Also in May 2018, Ksondzyk was in a court dispute with his wife over divorce. His wife had filed suit because he refused to grant her a divorce. She stated that actual marital relations between them had ended, that they no longer run a joint household, and that there was no dispute over division of property. The court granted the woman's claim.

On 6 February 2020 he has a hearing scheduled at the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Lviv on deprivation of parental rights (case number: 466/159/19).

The suspect also had debts on a credit card. On 20 March 2019 the Kovel District Court of Volyn Oblast upheld the claim of PrivatBank and ordered Ksondzyk to repay a debt of UAH 62,233, as well as UAH 1,762 in court costs.

In 2018 he was held administratively liable for drunk driving.

According to the Facebook page of the second suspect, Yelyzaveta Vasylivna Bershavska, she lives in the village of Lypniazhka (Kirovohrad Oblast).