Won’t start? We’ll tow it! In Korabelnyi, a man who stole a VAZ by towing it received a suspended sentence

Someone’s car was towed away with a rope, leaving only spare parts behind, while one of the thieves kept driving despite numerous fines and court bans. The ending to this story was unexpected: both men received five-year prison sentences but remained free.

On the night of March 13, 2026, near building No. 327/2 on Bohoyavlenskyi Avenue in Mykolaiv’s Korabelnyi District, two men spotted a beige VAZ-2109 parked nearby. The car belonged to a local resident named Ivan, who could hardly have imagined that soon, instead of getting his intact car back, he would have to reclaim its separate body parts, engine, doors, and even the steering wheel.

Dmytro B. and Viktor K. decided to take someone else’s car. They did so without any sophisticated methods of picking the locks or starting the engine.

They arrived in a green Volkswagen Polo, made sure nobody was watching, took out a tow rope, and attached it to the parked VAZ. They secured the other end to their Volkswagen.

And so, in the middle of the night, someone else’s car set off — in tow. The thieves hauled it to building No. 45 on Hetmana Mazepy Street, where they later did as they pleased with the vehicle.

The owner suffered losses of 57,078 hryvnias and 88 kopecks.

All that remained of the car were doors, an engine, a steering wheel, and a tiger-print sheet

The list of physical evidence that later became part of the criminal case file makes for particularly interesting reading.

Instead of one car, the police held two sections of the VAZ-2109 body, four doors, a trunk lid, an engine, seats, a steering wheel, a tow hitch, and other spare parts.

The steering wheel was packed in a separate evidence bag, the tow hitch in a special sealed plastic bag, and the body sections, doors, and other large parts were sealed with National Police tape.

And that was not all.

The items seized also included a black plastic tool case, parts from a Fillips food processor, and even a tiger-print bedsheet.

What is more, the same case also listed two pyrotechnic grenades, “Piro-5M” and “F-1”, as physical evidence. The court ordered them destroyed. The verdict does not explain how these items were connected to the car theft.

All of this was stored at Police Department No. 3, which serves Korabelnyi District. The court ordered the seized car parts and other property returned to Ivan.

The document does not specify who dismantled the stolen VAZ or when it happened.

Six drives in defiance of a court ban

But the car theft was not the only incident involving one of the defendants.

The court found that on November 18, 2025, the man had been fined 17,000 hryvnias for an offense under Article 130 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and had his driving privileges revoked for one year.

It might have seemed that he would have to stay away from the wheel, at least temporarily. But he kept driving.

The criminal verdict describes six instances in which he drove cars in defiance of the court ban:

• February 26, at 10:40 p.m. — driving a VAZ-2106 on Korabeliv Avenue, near building No. 14.
• March 12, at 9:25 p.m. — in a Volkswagen Polo near building No. 338A on Bohoyavlenskyi Avenue.
• March 29, at 6:20 p.m. — in a VAZ-21083 near building No. 285 on Bohoyavlenskyi Avenue.
• March 30, at 1:20 a.m. — again in a VAZ-21083, this time near building No. 558 on the same avenue.
• April 6, at 8:20 p.m. — driving a VAZ-21061.
• April 20, at 12:11 a.m. — in a VAZ-21061 near building No. 41 on Yevhena Malaniuka Lane.

An interesting detail: on March 12, the man was driving the same green Volkswagen Polo that was used to tow away the stolen VAZ the very next night.

The court considered all six incidents deliberate non-compliance with the ruling revoking his driving privileges. However, the verdict does not indicate that the man was actually stopped during each of these trips.

Fines of 40,000 hryvnias and a seven-year ban

Court orders kept piling up, but the man did not stop driving.

He was repeatedly fined 40,800 hryvnias for further administrative offenses.

On April 14, 2026, the Korabelnyi District Court not only imposed another fine but also revoked the man’s driving privileges for seven years.

And on May 7, the verdict refers to another four court rulings, each imposing a fine of 40,800 hryvnias and revoking his driving privileges for five years.

The administrative fines listed in the criminal case alone total more than 260,000 hryvnias. The verdict does not say whether the man paid them.

Ultimately, his repeated defiance of the court ban became a separate criminal charge.

Five years each — and not a single day behind bars

During the trial, both men fully admitted their guilt and expressed remorse. The court also took into account that neither had a prior criminal record, they were unemployed, neither had minor children to support, and they had partially compensated for the damage by returning property.

On August 6, 2026, the Korabelnyi District Court delivered its verdict.

One defendant was sentenced to two years in prison for failing to comply with a court decision and five years for unlawfully taking possession of a car. Taking the crimes together, his final sentence was five years in prison.

His accomplice also received five years in prison for the car theft.

However, the men will not have to serve their sentences in prison if they comply with the terms of their probation. The court suspended both sentences and imposed a probation period of just one year.

During that time, they must report to the probation service, notify it of any change of residence or employment, and may not leave Ukraine without permission.

The court also ordered both convicts to pay 2,290 hryvnias and 5 kopecks for the expert examinations.

The verdict became final on September 8, 2026.

That is how the story unfolded: Ivan was left without an intact car, investigators ended up with a whole collection of spare parts, and one of the thieves managed to repeatedly defy court bans and rack up enormous fines. It all ended with five-year prison sentences, from which both men were released on probation for one year.

We previously reported:

• A VAZ was stolen from a yard in Mykolaiv and towed 30 km away
• The keys were left in the ignition: a VAZ was stolen in Mykolaiv Region and sold for parts
• Fines of nearly 300,000 and 10 years without a license did not help: driver repeatedly caught behind the wheel in Korabelnyi District
• Someone else’s car without keys? No problem: resourceful “driver” detained in Mykolaiv
• Man took an unlocked Lexus in Korabelnyi District and drove home