Met and poisoned: woman suspected of treason after a serviceman's death

April 23, 2026 the press service of the Zakarpattia Regional Prosecutor’s Office reported an investigation into the death of a serviceman in Uzhhorod. A 26-year-old resident of Zaporizhzhia, who was temporarily living in the city, was detained on suspicion of treason.

According to investigators, the woman allegedly acted on the orders of a representative of the Russian security services, with whom she got in touch via a popular messenger. For USD 3,000 she agreed to obtain information from the Ukrainian serviceman’s phone.

Later the suspect met the serviceman and established a trusting relationship with him. According to the investigation’s version, after that she received an unknown substance from the “handler” and poured it into the man’s drink. Subsequently the serviceman lost consciousness and later died.

The prosecutor’s office notes that after the man’s death the woman photographed his body and sent a report to the “clients”. At the same time she called an ambulance and tried to present the incident as an accident. Law enforcement detained her under Art. 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.

During searches a number of pieces of evidence were seized. The woman was notified of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – treason committed under martial law. At the petition of the head of the Zakarpattia Regional Prosecutor’s Office Myroslav Patskan the court imposed a preventive measure on her in the form of detention without the right to post bail.

Investigators are currently establishing all the circumstances of the tragedy and the cause of the serviceman’s death. After the experts’ conclusions, including the forensic medical examination, they will decide on the further qualification of the detainee’s actions. The maximum punishment under the charged article is life imprisonment.

“We live in a state of war. And while some defend the state at the cost of their own lives, others try to exploit the situation for their own interests,” said the head of the regional prosecutor’s office, commenting on the case.

The pre-trial investigation is being carried out by investigators of the SBU in Zakarpattia region under the procedural supervision of the Zakarpattia Regional Prosecutor’s Office. The initial documentation of the crime was provided by officers of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Zakarpattia region.