In the Chernihiv region, armed bandits attacked regional police officers

In the Chernihiv region, armed bandits attacked regional police officers

On December 27, in the Pryluky district of the Chernihiv region, during an attempt by the Chernihiv police to stop the theft of petroleum products from the storage of PJSC "Ukrnafta," the law enforcement officers were fired upon.

This was reported at a press conference by the expert of the NGO "Committee for Combating Corruption in Government Bodies," Kostyantyn Chernenko. The masked criminals told the police officers not to intervene in their criminal actions of stealing oil, under the pretense of the name of Ruslan Krakhmilets, the head of the Pryluky Police. Despite the fact that the Chernihiv police managed to neutralize and detain one of the offenders, his accomplices, threatening with a grenade, managed to free the bandit, after which they left the base unobstructed with a petrol tanker full of petroleum products. As a result of the shooting, one of the law enforcement officers was injured and hospitalized.

As reported by Oleksandr Muzychenko, Deputy Head of the NGO "Right to Protection," the law enforcement agencies of Pryluky did not respond to the theft of state property and the attack on police representatives. "Many of the attackers were recognized, the car numbers are known, but nobody is doing anything," he said.

"Everything is being deliberately done so that no one learns about this crime. No media, no press secretary of any law enforcement agency has reported this," Kostyantyn Chernenko stated. The expert believes there is a scheme for large-scale embezzlement of the state enterprise’s property, "covered up" by the local police. This scheme involves enterprise workers, criminal elements, local law enforcers, and people "at the top."

"In this regard, the lives and health of the police officers who tried to stop this large-scale theft are in danger," stated Kostyantyn Chernenko. "As we see, their colleagues from Pryluky are not going to protect them but rather want to hush up this matter. The task of civil society is to prevent reprisal against honest police officers who were not afraid to oppose armed criminals. We want this outrageous fact to receive the widest publicity and necessary measures to be taken," he said.

That the activists’ fears are not unfounded is evidenced by the fact that not all participants were able to speak at the press conference. On the way to Kyiv, the car with activists was cut off by an unknown vehicle. As a result of the accident, Yaroslav Syomka, the head of the "Right to Protection" organization, suffered a concussion that prevented him from participating in the press conference.

Despite this, the activists are determined and declare that they will not back down. 

Interfax