The murder of policemen in the Dnieper (2016)

On the morning of September 25, 2016, at about 10:00 near the , a patrol police crew consisting of police officers Artyom Kutushev and Olga Makarenko detained a Citroen car driving at a traffic light signal ^[3] . When detained, the police did not have bulletproof vests, only Kutushev turned on his chest chamber ^[4] .

The detained driver, Alexander Pugachev, began to wrangle with the policeman and demanded to let him go. Since his violation has not been proven. Makarenko, who was supposed to cover her partner, left to talk with the driver of another vehicle. Having been refused, the driver demanded that Kutushev “lie down on the floor”. The police officer complied with Pugachev’s demand. After that, a shootout began, as a result of which Pugachev fired several shots at the police, killing Kutushev and seriously injuring Makarenko ^[3] . Kutushev managed to make one return shot, wounding Pugachev in the stomach ^[5] . Pugachev took possession of Kutushev's service weapon ^[3] and tried to hide in his car. However, his car was blocked by his driver, driver Valery Timonin, who witnessed the incident ^[6] . Pugachev fired several shots at the minibus and, threatening with a weapon, forced Timonin to clear his way. Then Pugachev hid in his car ^{[5] [6]} . Olga Makarenko died on the same day in the hospital, during surgery ^[3] .

Suspect Pugachev was detained on the same day at the Mechnikov hospital in the city ​​of Dnipro while seeking medical help for a gunshot wound ^[7] . After the detention he was given medical assistance ^[5] .

Both deceased police officers are police lieutenants and had a higher legal education and served in the Dnepr patrol police from the first day of its existence ^[8] .

• Artyom Kutushev, 27 years old. There was a three-year-old daughter. After military service he graduated in absentia from Dnepropetrovsk State University of Internal Affairs (2015) with a degree in law enforcement ^[9] .
• Olga Makarenko, 36 years old. Two sons left. Graduate of the National Law Academy of Ukraine named after Yaroslav the Wise, lawyer-lawyer. In 2002-2010, she worked as a lawyer in one of the city’s district councils. When recruitment began in the Dnepr patrol police, Olga enrolled as one of the first ^[9] .

Alexander Andreevich Pugachev, born January 6, 1983, a citizen of Ukraine, a native of the city of Michurinsk in the Tambov region , previously convicted ^{[10] [11]} . He lived in the city of Torez, Donetsk region , and the last year - in the Dnieper ^[12] . A participant in the ATO, a former soldier Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine ^[10] . At the time of the incident on September 25, 2016, Pugachev was on the wanted list for more than a year on suspicion of serious crimes as part of the Tornado company ^[10] .

Pugachev was detained on September 25, 2016 at the Mechnikov hospital , where he turned with a gunshot wound. Pugachev received medical assistance, after the operation he was left in the hospital under armed guard ^[13] .

The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko , the Minister of Internal Affairs Avakov and the Chief of Police Dekanoidze expressed their condolences to the families of the victims ^[14] .

On September 26, mourning was declared in the Dnieper ^[15] . On this day, the mayor Boris Filatov and the Minister of Internal Affairs Avakov awarded the driver of the minibus Valery Timonin, who tried to detain the suspect, with the medal “Defender of the city” and personalized weapons ^{[5] [6]} .

Officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine announced the preparation of amendments to the legislation on police caused by the incident ^{[16] [17]} . Interior Minister Arsen Avakov during a brief briefing in the Dnieper announced the preparation of a bill that would consolidate the presumption of correctness of a law enforcement officer ^[9] . Avakov also said that the Ministry of Internal Affairs will allocate two two-room apartments to the families of the deceased employees of the new police, in addition, each family will receive monetary compensation in the amount of 725 thousand hryvnias; the public began raising funds to help the families of the deceased patrol ^[9] .

The investigation into the murder of patrol officers was completed in January 2017 and the case was transferred to the Kirov District Court of the Dnieper ^[18] . Representatives of the investigation stated that they have reliable evidence of guilt of the suspect Alexander Pugachev ^[18] .

The main evidence in the case is a video from the Kutushev chest camera, which was also published in the media. But from seven minutes of video, 4 minutes 48 seconds were cut.
In the video from Kutushev’s camera, a witness was clearly visible, who was in close proximity to the car. Although according to the information provided in the press release, there were no police officers near the car, except for the police.

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• In the Dnieper, a patrolman was shot dead, his partner died from the hospital (updated) (neopr.) . LB.ua. Date of treatment September 25, 2016. Archived on September 25, 2016.
• The murder of policemen in the Dnieper: What you need to know about the event that shook Ukraine (neopr.) . NV.ua. Date of treatment September 25, 2016. Archived on September 25, 2016.
• In the Dnieper, the minibus driver Valery Timonin was awarded, who tried to block the police car killer (neopr.) . 112.ua. Date of treatment September 26, 2016. Archived September 26, 2016.
• The case of the execution of patrols was sent to court (neopr.) . Dnipro Evening (January 24, 2017). Date of treatment March 19, 2017. Archived March 19, 2017.