Destroyed evidence, "lost" documents: the wife of a fallen fighter from Korabelnyi District — on investigative negligence

Tetiana Kuemzhy, the wife of the deceased serviceman Oleksandr Kuemzhy from the Korabelnyi district of Mykolaiv, on 24 April 2026 published a new post about the status of the investigation into her husband’s death. She says that one and a half months after the tragedy the family still has not received the main thing – an honest investigation and clear answers.

Earlier we already wrote about this story: a serviceman was killed on the territory of the unit: the case may be “buried” together with the body – the family raises the alarm. According to the family, Oleksandr Kuemzhy died on 2 March 2026 after being detained by representatives of the Military Law Enforcement Service in Dnipro. The wife reported that before his death he complained about conditions in military unit A5216, rarely contacted them, and then wrote that he would not come home because he had been detained by representatives of the VSP. After that contact with him was lost. It was previously also noted that the family demanded a repeat forensic medical examination because they did not trust the initial conclusion and pointed to contradictions in the official explanations:

Detained by the VSP at the station on the way home, and then they said he “fell and died”: the death of a fighter from the Korabelnyi district

Now Tetiana Kuemzhy reports that the case is already with the DBR, but the transfer of materials itself, she says, did not guarantee a quality investigation. The woman asserts that during the handover of the case from the National Police the deceased’s phone was “left in safekeeping” at the police, and the clothing he was wearing at the time of death, which could have been physical evidence, was destroyed.

“The case is at the DBR. But is that a victory? For now I doubt it. When the case was transferred from the National Police, Sasha’s phone was strangely ‘left in safekeeping’ at the police, and his clothes, which were on him at the time of the murder – direct physical evidence – were simply destroyed. How can you investigate a case when evidence goes into the trash?” – writes Tetiana Kuemzhy.

Separately, the deceased’s wife is outraged that she has still not been included in the case as a victim. According to her, as early as 1 April she filed a statement with the Eastern Regional Military Prosecutor’s Office, but as of 24 April there is no factual result. The prosecutor, she claims, forwarded the statement to the DBR, explaining that he “had not seen the case”, and the investigator in a phone conversation allegedly stated that one victim – the deceased’s mother – is sufficient.

“‘One victim is enough.’ On 1 April I filed a statement with the Eastern Regional Military Prosecutor’s Office to be attached to the case. The result? As of today, 24 April, the situation is the following: the prosecutor forwarded my statement to the DBR, justifying this by saying he ‘had not seen the case.’ The investigator, in a phone conversation, stated that ‘one victim (the mother) is enough.’ Interesting logic: the fewer people demand justice, the calmer the investigation? ” – stated Tetiana Kuemzhy, considering such a position dangerous.

Another episode that raises questions for the family is the military documents of Oleksandr Kuemzhy. According to the wife, the National Police and the DBR allegedly did not know where they were. At the same time Tetiana Kuemzhy, being 2,000 kilometres away, was able, with a few calls, to find out that the documents had been with the VSP the whole time – that is, where, according to the family, the tragedy happened. The deceased’s wife emphasizes: the investigation for one and a half months could not establish what she found remotely.

“A ‘remote’ investigation. The National Police and the DBR shrugged their shoulders: we don’t know where Sasha’s military documents are. Being 2,000 kilometres away, with a few calls I found out: the documents had been with the VSP the whole time. That is, where Sasha was killed. The investigation ‘could not’ find the documents at the scene for one and a half months, and I found them from another country.”

Separately, Tetiana Kuemzhy returned to the contradictory information the family received in the first days after Oleksandr’s death. Previously she said she was informed that he was allegedly in a coma, although it later turned out that he was already dead. In the new post the woman links this confusion to another case in Dnipro, when on the same day, she says, after being beaten by employees of the TCC another man really was in a coma in Mechnikov Hospital and died on 8 March.

Tetiana Kuemzhy claims that she now better understands why the family was initially told about a “coma”.

“The truth about the ‘coma.’ Now I know why they lied to us that Sasha was in a coma. That same day in Dnipro employees of the TCC beat a man. He really was in a coma in Mechnikov Hospital until 8 March, when he died. So, in one day they killed two people. And this is only the information that is public,” – asserts Tetiana Kuemzhy, better understanding why the family was initially told about a “coma”.

According to the deceased’s wife, the combination of circumstances – destroyed clothing, the “forgotten” phone, unlocated documents and the refusal to include her in the case – looks to the family not simply like chaos or negligence. She believes such actions should receive legal evaluation.

“Destroyed clothing, a ‘forgotten’ phone, ignored documents – this is not just negligence. These are concrete actions that have a name in the law. I go public because in this situation publicity is the only guarantee of my safety and that the case will not be ‘buried’ along with the physical evidence,” – explained Tetiana Kuemzhy.

The story of Oleksandr Kuemzhy’s death fits into a worrying series of cases where families of servicemen or mobilized persons do not trust initial explanations about the causes of death and demand independent examinations. Recently there was also a report about the death of Mykolaiv resident Ivan “Teren” Terentiev after mobilization: his family also insists on a repeat independent examination, alleging bodily injuries and contradictions in the documents.

This story needs not silence but maximum procedural transparency. If in the case physical evidence was indeed destroyed, the deceased’s phone not transferred, the location of documents not established and the family’s access to the process limited, then the question is no longer only about the cause of Oleksandr Kuemzhy’s death, but about whether the system is capable of investigating the death of a serviceman without cronyism.

Reminder, earlier we wrote:

• A week from mobilization to death: the family of a serviceman from Mykolaiv reports a possible murder
• Fit — dead in three days: what happened to Serhii Ukhorenko after mobilization in the Korabelnyi district
• In Mykolaiv region a mobilized person who was a childhood invalid died: prosecutors are checking the medics and the military commissariat