Poisoned a soldier following instructions from Telegram? A 17-year-old girl was detained in the Zhytomyr region

In Zhytomyr, law enforcement is investigating the high-profile killing of a 27-year-old serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who was found dead in a rented apartment. According to preliminary expert findings, the cause of death was poisoning.

The man’s body was discovered on June 4 in one of the regional center’s apartments. The property owner contacted the police to report the death of her tenant. Investigative-operational teams from the Main Directorate of the National Police in Zhytomyr region, officers of Zhytomyr District Police Department No.1, operatives and SBU personnel worked at the scene.

Investigators opened a criminal proceeding under part 1 of Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — intentional murder. During the inspection of the scene, law enforcement seized dishes with remnants of a powdery substance and other material evidence. The serviceman’s body was sent for a forensic medical examination.

As a result of operational-search measures, police identified a person who may be involved in the serviceman’s death. She turned out to be a 17-year-old resident of Berdychiv, who was detained at her place of residence.

According to the investigation, the girl communicated in one of the Telegram channels with a man who, according to law enforcement, may be a representative of the Russian Federation’s special services.

Investigators established that at the end of May she received a package through a parcel locker containing a crystalline substance. It is preliminarily identified as methadone. After that, a handler instructed her to meet the serviceman, specifying the time and place of the meeting.

According to law enforcement, during the meeting the girl and the man went to his rented apartment.

The police described the preliminarily established circumstances of the crime.

“At his instruction, at the end of May the girl received via a parcel locker a package containing a crystalline substance, preliminarily methadone. The handler tasked her with meeting the serviceman, specifying the time and place of the meeting. The suspect agreed and went with the new acquaintance to his rented apartment. There she slipped the pre-prepared drug into his alcohol, and when the man lost consciousness – she left.”

Authorities are currently deciding whether to formally notify the detainee of suspicion and to choose a preventive measure for her.

At the same time, law enforcement established that the minor had previously come to the attention of authorities.

“It has been established that she had previously been prosecuted for drug offenses and a crime against public safety.”

The circumstances of the serviceman’s death and possible ties of the suspect with representatives of Russian special services continue to be established within the framework of the pre-trial investigation.