Declared fit — and dead: The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating the death of Volodymyr Kolesnyk after a military medical commission in the Mykolaiv region

The story of 44-year-old Volodymyr Kolesnyk from the Mykolaiv region, who on 8 May 2026, despite severe chest injuries, was declared fit for military service by a military-medical commission, has taken on a criminal dimension. After appeals by the family and the lawyer, the State Bureau of Investigation officially opened a pre-trial investigation.

The territorial office of the DBR in the city of Mykolaiv reported that information has been entered into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations. The criminal proceedings were registered under No. 62026150010004668 dated 2 July 2026 on signs of a criminal offense provided for in part 5 of Article 426-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

This concerns an abuse of power or official authority by a military service person if such actions were committed under martial law or in combat conditions. The sanction of this article provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of between 8 and 12 years.

According to the materials of the lawyers’ appeals, on 8 May 2026 Volodymyr Kolesnyk was in critical condition. The medical records cited by the family indicated serious bodily injuries, in particular fractures of the 8th and 9th ribs, hemopneumothorax, subcutaneous emphysema and a severe chest injury.

Despite this, according to the family and the lawyer, the man was not hospitalized. Instead, he underwent mobilization procedures and a military-medical commission that declared him fit for military service. A few days later Volodymyr Kolesnyk was hospitalized in an extremely severe condition. Medical staff were unable to save his life.

These circumstances were previously the basis for the family’s public appeals, and now for a criminal proceeding that should answer the key question: how could a person with severe injuries undergo mobilization procedures and be declared fit?

Particular attention is drawn to the wording contained in the excerpt from the URPI. The investigation is verifying information that unidentified military officials of the Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centers of Mykolaiv region, acting under martial law, may have exceeded their official powers during the mobilization of Volodymyr Kolesnyk, which caused serious consequences.

At this stage of the pre-trial investigation no specific individuals have been notified of suspicion. Investigators must establish the circle of involved officials, their role in decision-making, as well as the causal link between the actions or inaction of the officials and the man’s death.

The lawyer for Volodymyr Kolesnyk‘s family, commenting on the opening of the criminal proceedings, emphasizes that for the deceased’s relatives this is not about revenge, but about justice, accountability of officials and preventing similar tragedies in the future.

“The opening of a criminal proceeding means that the facts presented by the family have not remained without legal assessment. Now the investigation must establish who exactly made the decision to mobilize a person with severe injuries, whether these decisions complied with the requirements of the law, and whether they are causally linked to the death of Volodymyr Kolesnyk. For the family this is not a question of revenge. It is a question of justice, the accountability of officials and preventing similar tragedies in the future”.

This case has long since gone beyond the tragedy of a single family. It raises a painful issue for society about legality during mobilization, the objectivity of military-medical commissions, the accountability of officials and real state control over procedures that directly affect people’s lives.

If it is proven during the investigation that official powers were exceeded and that this caused serious consequences, the guilty party may face the punishment provided by part 5 of Article 426-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — from 8 to 12 years of imprisonment.

The family of Volodymyr Kolesnyk states that they will continue to seek a full, objective and impartial investigation. The deceased’s relatives insist that every official must bear responsibility if their guilt is proven in accordance with the law.

Earlier we wrote:

• Death after the MMC: He was supposed to be taken to the hospital, but he ended up at the assembly point: the family speaks of fatal actions by the police, the territorial recruitment center in Mykolaiv region
• After mobilization a man died: the body was in the morgue for almost 12 days — Lubynets
• The Ministry of Defense will check the TCC of Mykolaiv and Odesa after the revelation of an 18-day detention of a man
• Injuries, hematomas and death: what happened to Yevhen Lahunov after mobilization
• Taser, beatings and death: two TCC servicemen will go on trial