"He stood up for his sister" — and received 7 years: the court examined the deadly drama in Korabelnyi District

The Korabelnyi District Court of the city of Mykolaiv issued a verdict in case No. 488/3849/23 concerning Vasyl Mykolayovych Kukhar, who was accused of intentionally inflicting grievous bodily injuries that caused a person’s death.

The verdict was handed down by Judge Tetyana Mykolaivna Holovina. The defendant’s counsel was Halyna Havrylivna Borshchevska. The victim in the case is identified as Nadiya M. — the deceased man’s mother.

The events occurred on 4 August 2023 at approximately 19:00 in one of the residential properties on Oleh Olzhych Street in Mykolaiv. According to the prosecution’s version, Vasyl Kukhar, due to personal hostile relations, took a wooden stick in the yard, returned to the house and struck his sister’s partner at least 5 times to the head, face, torso and limbs.

The most serious consequences were a fracture of the 9th rib, pleural injury, hemorrhage and rupture of the spleen. These injuries, according to the experts’ conclusions, had a direct causal link to the victim’s death.

After the conflict the man was taken to KNP MMR “Mykolaiv City Emergency Hospital”, where he died the same day. A forensic medical examination established that death occurred due to a blunt closed abdominal injury with spleen damage, intra-abdominal hemorrhage and traumatic shock.

What Vasyl Kukhar said in court

In court Vasyl Kukhar partially admitted guilt. He did not deny being involved in the events and inflicting serious bodily injuries on the victim, but insisted that he did not intend to kill him and allegedly acted to protect his sister.

According to the defendant, since spring 2022 he had been living with his sister and her partner. On the day of the tragedy, 4 August 2023, the sister’s partner had been drinking in the morning, arguing, behaving aggressively and provoking a conflict. Because of this, according to Kukhar, the police had already been called; they arrived, spoke with the man and drove him out of the house.

However, at about 19:00 the partner returned home. As Vasyl Kukhar claimed, he started drinking again, harassing his sister, arguing, and then grabbed a metal chain.

Vasyl Kukhar told the court that he heard his sister’s screams and a threat in Russian: “Ya seychas urabotayu tebya i brata tvoego” (translated by the defendant as “I’ll work you and your brother over now”). After that he took a wooden stick from outside about one meter long and about 5 centimeters thick and ran into the house.

According to him, his sister tried to pull the chain out of the partner’s hands, and he hit the partner from behind with the stick, demanding he let go of the chain. When the victim allegedly did not stop pulling the chain and tried to resist, Kukhar struck him several more times to the sides, arms, leg and head.

After the blow to the head the victim crouched, began to bleed, and then went out into the yard. The defendant admitted that he and his sister did not give him medical assistance. He insisted that he did not intend to cause grievous injuries, but wanted to protect his sister.

Defense position: they asked to recognize this as self-defence

Defense lawyer Halyna B. insisted that Vasyl Kukhar acted in a state of necessary self-defence. According to the defense’s position, he tried to prevent the sister’s partner from inflicting bodily harm on her.

The defense also drew the court’s attention to the fact that the victim allegedly constantly beat the woman, forced her out of the house, provoked quarrels and scandals. The lawyer asked that these circumstances be taken into account when qualifying the defendant’s actions.

The defense maintained that Vasyl Kukhar should be charged not under Part 2 of Article 121 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, but under Article 124 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — as intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm in the event of exceeding the limits of necessary self-defence.

In addition, the defense pointed to the actions of the medical staff. In the lawyer’s opinion, the victim was not examined fully in the hospital, and therefore the doctors could allegedly bear some responsibility for his death.

What the deceased’s mother said

The victim, Nadiya M., the deceased man’s mother, told the court that her son lived with his partner and her brother — Vasyl Kukhar. According to her, she had hardly communicated with her son during the past year.

The woman said that her son spent most of his life in places of detention and constantly abused alcohol. She learned about her son’s death from his partner.

Nadiya M. did not insist on a harsh punishment for the defendant.

“She has no claims against the defendant and does not insist on a harsh punishment.”

Patrol officers’ testimony: the man was lying in the yard and could barely speak

Witnesses H. and Sh., who are inspectors of the patrol police, told the court that in August 2023 they responded to a call about domestic violence at the address: Mykolaiv, Oleg Olzhych Street.

At the scene they met a woman who reported a conflict with her partner. She explained that the man had started beating her and her brother stepped in.

The patrol officers saw the victim in the yard. He was lying down, heavily drunk, had head injuries and could not really speak. Because of this, as the officers noted, he did not complain of pain or other injuries.

The patrol officers provided him with first aid, called an ambulance and helped load him into the medics’ vehicle. Vasyl Kukhar at the scene did not deny that he had protected his sister and hit the man with a wooden stick.

The defendant’s sister’s testimony

The sister of Vasyl Kukhar, witness A., told the court that the deceased had been her partner since 2021. According to her, he constantly beat her, insulted her, and she could not get rid of him from her home.

At the same time she said that she had not told her brother about these events. Vasyl Kukhar began living with them from the start of the full-scale war, that is, from 2022. According to the sister, before that her brother had no conflicts with her partner.

About the day of the tragedy she said that the partner had been drinking in the morning. He would leave the house and return, insult her and her brother, and threaten to kill. Then he fell asleep, but later grabbed the chain and swung it at her.

The woman claimed she covered herself with her hand, then grabbed the chain and tried to take it away. After that she began to shout and call her brother for help.

According to her, Vasyl Kukhar entered the house with a wooden stick and inflicted 3 blows on the partner — to the back, torso and head. After that the victim went out into the yard and lay down on the ground.

At the same time the court viewed critically part of her testimony that the partner allegedly struck her with the chain on the head and arm. In the case materials there was her police statement from 4 August 2023, in which she asked to stop the investigation into domestic violence, stating that she had not suffered bodily injuries, had no complaints and did not need police assistance.

What the medics said

Witness A., a junior nurse of the hospital emergency department, said that in August 2023 a patient was brought to the hospital. He had an X-ray, was taken to the examination room and examined by a doctor.

According to her, the patient behaved aggressively, swore and said he was going to sleep. When she returned after a long time, he was already dead.

Witness Ch., a neurosurgeon at the emergency hospital, after reviewing the medical documentation explained that he examined the victim after the X-ray. He recorded a contusion of the soft tissues of the head. According to the doctor, if the patient had other complaints he would have been referred to a specialist, but there were no such complaints in the chart.

Witness K., an orthopedic trauma doctor, said that the victim was brought to the trauma point on 4 August 2023, where he was treated: examined, head wounds were treated, sutures were applied, a vaccine was administered, after which he was transported to the reception department.

According to the traumatologist, the victim was intoxicated, behaved very aggressively and actively, insulted the medical staff, tried to provoke conflict, and was restrained by the people who brought him. The doctor noted that the victim did not report complaints about other bodily injuries besides the head wounds.

At the same time this line became one of the most important in the case: the spleen injury was not detected by doctors immediately.

Expert’s position: an ultrasound could have shown the problem

Forensic medical expert Ts. confirmed the conclusion of expert report No.1879 dated 15 September 2023. She said that during the examination of the body she recorded sutured wounds on the head made by doctors, and also found a bruise on the chest at the level of the 9th rib.

The expert noted that if the doctors had performed an abdominal ultrasound, it would have been possible to understand that there was a serious problem. In that case a surgeon and operative intervention to remove the spleen would have been necessary.

At the same time she explained that with bleeding and spleen rupture a person may not feel pain. Low blood pressure can be a suspicion of bleeding, but by itself is not always a definite sign.

The commission forensic medical examination also established that the victim’s examination in the hospital was not carried out in full. However, the experts did not establish a direct causal link between the actions or inaction of medical personnel and the man’s death.

What the police and examinations recorded

The case materials include a report of a call to 102 at 19:02 on 4 August 2023. Then Vasyl Kukhar reported domestic violence by his sister’s partner, who was starting a fight, threatening to burn the house and behaving in an inadequate manner.

At 21:47 the police received a report from the emergency hospital that the victim was brought to the trauma point with a contusion of the soft tissues of the head.

At 23:39 the police were notified that the man had died in the reception department.

During the inspection of the scene on 5 August 2023 law enforcement officers seized a metal chain, a fragment of wood, swabs of a brown-colored substance and a piece of gauze.

Bodycam footage from the patrol officers showed the victim lying in the yard with blood traces nearby. Vasyl Kukhar and his sister told the police about the conflict, threats, quarrels and the impossibility of living with the victim.

On the audio recording of the call to the police Vasyl Kukhar reported that the sister’s partner had “gone berserk”, grabbed the chain and began to beat her. He also said that he himself had “also hit him a little”. At the dispatcher’s question about the need for an ambulance he answered that an ambulance was not needed, let the police come and take the man away.

Why the court did not accept the self-defence version

The court did not agree with the defense’s arguments about necessary self-defence.

The verdict states that when Vasyl Kukhar entered the house his sister had already intercepted the metal chain and was holding it in her hand. In the court’s view, this meant that the immediate socially dangerous encroachment by the victim had already been stopped or at least did not require causing such harm.

The court also took into account that after the first blow Kukhar positioned himself between his sister and the victim, pushed the man away, and the man found himself at a distance from the woman. But after that the defendant did not stop his actions and continued to beat the victim with the stick, including strikes to the torso.

It was the blow to the left side of the torso that, according to the experts’ conclusions, caused the fatal injury — a fracture of the 9th rib and rupture of the spleen.

The court also noted Vasyl Kukhar’s behavior after the incident: he did not provide first aid to the victim and during the call to the police stated that an ambulance was allegedly not needed.

Verdict

The court found Vasyl Mykolayovych Kukhar guilty under Part 2 of Article 121 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — intentional grievous bodily harm that caused the victim’s death.

The court found sincere remorse to be a mitigating circumstance. No aggravating circumstances were established.

The court also took into account that Vasyl Kukhar had no prior convictions, worked as a security guard at LLC “Sigard Service”, had a vocational secondary education and was averagely characterized at his place of residence.

However, in view of the victim’s death, the nature of the blows, the defendant’s behavior after the incident and the absence of grounds for applying a suspended sentence, the court imposed an actual custodial sentence.

Vasyl Mykolayovych Kukhar was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment.

The term of serving the sentence will be calculated from the moment of the actual enforcement of the verdict. Time spent in custody from 5 August 2023 to 7 August 2023 inclusive is credited toward the sentence.

Previously we wrote:

• Hit a woman to death on a crosswalk, but will not go to prison
• “Kvadrat”, who shot a young father in Korabelnyi, may be released on bail: the court softened its decision
• A quarrel in an apartment — and death: in Mykolaiv a brother killed his brother with a knife and received 8 years
• She was a fiancée! Details of the death of a 19-year-old in Korabelnyi
• In Mykolaiv a son inflicted 50 stab wounds on his mother: the court handed down a verdict