"How much are your children's lives worth?", - a man killed his partner's two-year-old son

Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Kravchenko April 24 2026 announced the verdict in a case of an especially brutal crime against a child: in the Dnipropetrovsk region a man was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a 2-year-old boy.

The tragedy occurred in July 2021 in a village in Kryvyi Rih district. The convicted man came to the house of his former partner when no adults were at home. Only a 7-year-old girl and her 2-year-old brother were in the residence. The children knew this man and did not see him as a danger. He took advantage of their trust. According to the case materials, amid jealousy and a conflict with the children’s mother the man decided to pressure the woman through her young son and daughter.

He tied the children’s hands and feet, and taped the girl’s mouth, depriving her of the ability to call for help. After that he called the children’s mother and began threatening her with the murder of her son and daughter, demanding money: “How much is your children’s life worth?”

Ruslan Kravchenko emphasized that one of the convict’s phrases is not an emotional retelling but is recorded in the criminal case materials.

Even after the mother was willing to meet the demands, the attacker did not stop. In front of the 7-year-old girl he inflicted on the 2-year-old boy 4 stab wounds to the neck. After the attack the man took money and the phone and fled. The girl managed to free herself and call for help.

The attacker was detained the same day. The little boy spent another 4 days in intensive care. Doctors fought for his life, however the injuries proved to be incompatible with life.

The court upheld the prosecution’s position and found the man guilty of a number of serious and especially serious crimes. The punishment was life imprisonment.

“This verdict will not bring the child back to life. But it is the state’s response. And a clear signal: no crime against a child will go unpunished,” – emphasized the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

This case once again shows how vulnerable children remain even in their own home when a person capable of using them as an instrument of revenge is nearby. There can be no excuses, everyday explanations, or “mitigating” stories about adults’ conflicts in such crimes: a child should not pay with their life for someone else’s aggression.

According to Ruslan Kravchenko, law enforcement opens criminal proceedings regarding crimes against children every day. These are cases of murders, violence and abuse, the level of cruelty of which is hard to comprehend. But, he emphasized, there must be accountability for every such crime.

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