Life in prison: the suspect in Farion’s murder has been reclassified as a crime – National Police

The crime classification of the extra in the case of the murder of public figure, People’s Deputy of Ukraine of the 7th convocation Iryna Farion has been changed. Now he is suspected of the intentional killing of a person in connection with his performance of a public duty due to motives of national intolerance, and illegal handling of weapons, the press service of the National Police of Ukraine reported on December 26.

As the police established, in 2022 the suspect in the murder of a public figure is an 18-year-old resident of the city of Dnipro, in one of the messengers he became a member of a group that promotes the cult of violence and cruelty, as well as racial, national and religious intolerance and discrimination. In addition, in 2024, he joined another group associated with a Russian neo-Nazi organization, law enforcement officials say.

“During his time in these groups, the suspect developed a personal dislike for Iryna Farion because of her active stance on the protection of the Ukrainian language and culture. According to the attacker, she split the national unity with her actions – because of this, he had the intention to kill the public figure. The figure carefully prepared for the commission of the crime – collected confidential information about the place of residence and work of the victim, followed him, and also developed a detailed plan to kill her and purchased a firearm,” according to the investigation.

The suspect faces life imprisonment.

On October 8, the Lviv Court of Appeal remanded the suspect in the deliberate murder of Iryna Farion.

Previously, the Halytsky District Court of the city of Lviv extended the preventive measure of 18-year-old V’yacheslav Zinchenko in the form of detention without the alternative of posting bail.

The suspect, during the court session on September 19, in a comment to Radio Svoboda, emphasized that he wanted to remain in custody because he was afraid for his life, but later, answering the judge, he denied this.

Iryna Farion was shot in Lviv on the evening of July 19. Late in the evening of the same day, medics reported that her injuries were not life-threatening. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the arrest of a murder suspect on July 25.

On July 26, at a briefing in Lviv, the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the Prosecutor General’s Office disclosed the details of both the suspect’s detention and the surveillance of Iryna Farion. No cameras captured the moment of the shooting, but there is video showing the suspect putting on gloves before the attack. According to law enforcement officials, a sports cartridge case was found at the scene, but no weapon was found.

Law enforcement officers emphasize that they have enough evidence that it was the detainee who shot the linguist. At the same time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs noted: “the investigation is inclined to the opinion that the shooter is only an executor.” The detainee’s father believes that his son had no motive to shoot Farion.