The motorcade of businessman Alexander Yaroslavsky committed a fatal accident at the beginning of February 2022. Then a man died, he was run over twice, Yaroslavsky himself denied that he was in the car during the accident.
About 18 months have passed since then, and the National Police is still conducting a pre-trial investigation. Details about the investigation and the stage at which it “slowed down” were reported by the Telegraph publication.
The publication sent an official request to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine regarding a fatal accident involving a car from the Yaroslavl motorcade. From the response of the OGPU it follows that the Main Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine is still carrying out a pre-trial investigation into criminal proceedings on the fact of a traffic accident that occurred late in the evening of February 9, 2022 in the area of 534 km + 200 m of the Kyiv - Kharkov - Dovga highway .
A man died in that accident: the victim was run over twice. At the same time, Yaroslavsky himself denied his involvement in the accident; one of the employees of the support services of the DCH company owned by the businessman took the blame.
At the same time, Telegraph, citing its own sources close to the investigation, writes that with a 90% probability Yaroslavsky himself was driving the car that hit the man. He left the country even before he was called in for questioning.
“The pre-trial investigation continues. No suspicion was reported. The pre-trial investigation is carried out in compliance with the requirements of Article 28 of the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine in terms of compliance with reasonable deadlines,” says the OGPU response to the publication’s request.
The Office of the Prosecutor General also assured that the case is being investigated on the grounds of criminal offenses under Part 3 of Art. 135 (Deliberate abandonment without help of a person in a life-threatening condition) and Part 2 of Art. 286 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Violation of rules of road safety or operation of transport). The first article provides for up to 8 years in prison, the second – up to 8 years in prison with deprivation of a driver’s license
At the same time, the OGPU refused to provide more detailed information regarding the mentioned accident, citing the requirements of Part 1 of Art. 222 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.
“They stipulate that information from pre-trial investigations in specific criminal proceedings relates to the secrecy of the investigation and can be disclosed only with the written permission of the investigator or prosecutor and to the extent that they consider possible. Disclosure of information relates to the secrecy of the investigation,” the OGPU stated. .
Telegraph recalled that criminal cases should be investigated for no longer than six months. Up to a year is allotted for the investigation of criminal proceedings for a crime of minor or medium gravity. And the investigation of criminal proceedings for serious or especially serious crimes cannot last longer than 18 months according to current legislation.
“Also, de jure, such statutes of limitations apply to punish the accused. Two years - in case of committing a criminal offense; five years - in case of committing a minor crime; seven years - in case of committing a serious crime; ten years - in case of committing a particularly serious crime; crimes,” the publication notes.
However, journalists could not remember a single case when any of the oligarchs or members of their families or influential politicians were punished for an accident in Ukraine. For example, the story of the son of People’s Deputy from the Opposition for Life, Nestor Shufrich, who in 2017 in Kiev hit a man while driving someone else’s Bentley, causing him a severe closed head injury and fractures, ended for Shufrich Jr. with a year of suspended sentence. Moreover, the sanction of the article provided for from three to eight years of imprisonment.
Let us remind you that on February 9, 2022, a fatal accident occurred on the Chuguev-Martovo highway. A car from Yaroslavsky's motorcade hit a man to death: he was run over twice. Yaroslavsky himself stated that he was sleeping at home at the time of the accident, and his company DCH stated that the driver of one of the auxiliary services was driving.